INDIAN TERRITORY 
A PrecommonwealtH 



COPYRIGHT 1904 

BY 

COMMONWEALTH PUBLISHING COMPANY 



FIFTY THOUSAND EDITION 







J. E. DUNN. 



INDIAN TERRITORY 



PRE COMMONWEALTH 



By J. E. DUNN 

Author of 

'His One Weak Point," "The Star of Cumorah, 

"I "Will It," "His Guiding' Star," Etc. 



Approved and sanctioned by parties connected witH 
tKe Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes 



Illustrations by courtesy of tKe 
Twin Territories Magazine 



Press of 

AMERICAN PRINTING COMPANY, INC. 

Indianapolis, U. S. A. 



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\W-v 



Introductory 



I 



* 



N presenting this book to the public I feel, and know, that the 
Indian Territory withholds a wonderful anomaly in the develop- 
ment of a country, and one that will soon puzzle the student 
of such evolution. There must be an unusual attraction to turn 
the eyes of a whole Nation upon a particular section — Territory 
or State, for that matter — yet such has become true with the 
Indian Territory; and very probably more people now have their eyes 
turned expectantly towards that section with anticipation of settlement 
within its borders than to any other country of its size in the world. 

This, to a great extent being true, a wave of trade has followed 
the flood of humanity with that vigor and energy which characterize 
Americans in the various lines of trade and industry. This becomes 
more interesting when viewed under the light of solemn treaties promis- 
ing the Indian the undisturbed possession and occupancy of their lands, 
as has been the case with the United States government as guardian for 
the five civilized tribes. It is enough to shock the mind of an impartial 
observer; yet, little surprise need be felt, for we know the history of 
the full-blood whose social instinct is opposed to commercial life and 
the accepted forms of the higher civilization. So it is only natural for 
him to shrink from the onrush of his predestined successors, with stub- 
born resistance, those changes which legalize the occupancy of his 
hunting grounds by those who have heretofore properly been classed as 
intruders. 

Sympathy may well be felt for him (the American Indian), for his 
passing is but one of the melancholy events which so often are followed 
by the most fitting sequences. 

Such being the true facts upon which conditions are forecasting the 
grim, yet distinct, foundations of another Commonwealth or State, I feel 
that the public needs to know of the country which has " something to 



it" strong enough to attract the eye of a whole nation, and, after having 
made its careful study for my own use, I have decided also to give it to 
the public in the presentation of this book. 

In writing this I have endeavored to take a non-partisan view and 
give the actual conditions as they exist in the Territory to-day. 

Trusting to your commendation and approval, 

I remain, 

J. E. DUNN, 

The Author. 




Illustrations 



Choctaw Boy Cover 

J. E.Dunn , ....Author 

I. B. Hitchcock Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Quannah Parker 15 

Indian Grave 28 

The Old Jefferson Davis Home 26 

Stanley School House : 32 

Indian Village 34 

Farm Scene >'. 39 

Harvest Scene 44 

Territory Farms '. 46 

Watermelon Farm 48 

Farming Pays 50 

Full Blood Maid 52 

Cherokee Maid 58 

Creek Girl 58 

A Creek Freedman 55 

Choctaw Girl 61 

Chickasaw Girl 62 

Mississippi Choctaws 63 

Bacone Indian University........ 89 

Scarbrough Institute ..............:.:.... I 93 

Daughter of Creek Chief 92 

Old Barracks, Fort Gibson 65 

Crazy Snake 74 

A Cowboy 131 

A Herd of Cattle 125 

A Fruit Farm 133 

A Cotton Field 120 

A Wheat Field 146 



PAGE 

Home-Seekers , 135 

Money in Raising Wheat 141 

Creek Citizen and Family 56 

Tom Johnson, Mississippi Choctaw 100 years old 59 

An Indian Grass House 78 

Crazy Snake Band, U. S. Jail Yard 71 

Hunting the Trail 110 

Surprised by the Foe 85 

Scene on the Verdigris , 139 

Nazareth Institution, Muskogee 98 

Kicking Bird, a Chief 17 

First Creek Council House 30 

Group Ready for a Dance 104 

Old Stables, Fort Gibson 83 

First Supper in the Indian Territory 143 

Cropping Cotton 41 

An Indian Boy in Base Ball Costume 114 

W. C. T. U. Building, Muskogee 106 

A Full-Blood at Home .'. Ill 

Cotton Gin, Ardmore, I.T 130 




QUANNAH PARKER 
A Famous Chief 








SI k. 

: 2 _ 




KICKING BIRD 
A Kiowa Chief 



Contents 



CHAPTER I. 
HISTORY. 

Muskogees: Legendary. Creeks, Choctaws and Chiekasaws: Mi- 
gration to Alabama, Tush-ka-lusa, James Oglethorpe (1733), 100 Years' 
War, Treaties with United States, Treaty of 1786, Treaty of 1830, 
Migration 1840-45. Cherokees: Antiquity of, Mound Builders, Migra- 
tion Theory, DeSoto's Conflict (1540), Revolution Period, Allied with 
British, Territory East of Alleghanies, Civil War Times, Members 
Divided, Georgia Treaty of 1802, Migration 1809, Migration 1838, West- 
ern Cherokees, John Ross, Eastern Cherokees, Texas Cherokees. 

CHAPTER II. 
RESOURCES. 

A Grazing Country, Farmer's Soliloquy, The Homeseeker's Attrac- 
tion, Soon After the Indian Removed, Opposition by Indians, Opposition 
by Government, As an Agricultural Country, For Farming, Corn, Wheat 
and Oats, Hay, Cotton, etc., Fruits and Vegetables, For Grazing. Differ- 
ent Nations: Chickasaw. Creek, Lands, Water, etc. Cherokee, Agricul- 
tural Resources. Seminole. Choctaw, Agricultural and Horticultural, 
Fruits, etc., Climate, Rainfall, Seasons, Spring, Winter, Summer, Miner- 
als, Oil and Gas, Timber Lands. 

CHAPTER III. 
THE PEOPLE. 

In General: Culture, Intelligence, Geographical Size. Five Civil- 
ized Tribes: Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chiekasaws. Other 
Reservations: Quapaws, Modocs, Peorias, Mixed Bloods, Whites, U. S. 
Negroes, Intermarriage, Freed-Man, Number, Negroes, Standing, Non- 
Citizen, Intruders, Numbers, Location, Court Citizens, Marriage Citizen- 
ship, Miscellaneous. 



2!2 Contents 



CHAPTER IV. 
GOVERNMENT. 

In General. Five Civilized Tribes : Cherokees, Creeks, Seminoles, 
Choctaws, Chickasaws. Tribal Government. Five Civilized Tribes: Chero- 
kees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, Seminoles. Federal Government, 
United States Federal Court, Muskogees, South McAlister, Vinita, Ard- 
more, Non-Citizens, Intruders, Quasi-Citizens. 

CHAPTER V. 
INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 

Muskogees: Constitution, Different from Other Nations, Creek 
Code, Semi-Barbaric Code, Executive, Chief, Home of Kings, Home of 
Warriors, Term of Office, Salaries, Cabinet Officers, Judiciary Districts, 
Enforcement of Laws, Constitution of 1866. Choctaws: Under a 
Government of a King, Chiefs, "Iksa" Clans, District Chiefs, Legisla- 
ture. Chickasaws: Constitution, Queen, King, Were Known by Names, 
Governor Cabinet, As Statesmen, As Citizens. Cherokee: Constitution, 
Principal Chief, Elected by Popular Vote, Judicial Powers, Judicial Dis- 
tricts, National Council, Senate, Expenditure. 

CHAPTER VI. 
SCHOOLS— CHURCHES. 

Schools: Native, Plants, Animals, Citizen Schools, Colleges, Semi- 
naries, Free Schools, Non-Citizen Schools, Public Pay Schools, Private 
Schools. Churches in the Towns: Denominations, Missionary. In the 
Country : Attendance, Distance, Schools of the Creeks, Schools of the 
Cherokees, Attendance, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Seminoles, Tuition, Books, 
Board, Clothes, etc. 

CHAPTER VII. 
INDIAN RELIGION. 

Green Corn Dance, Black Drink, Charmed Circle, Great Spirit, Super- 
stition is Dying Out, Conchakaholo, Medicine Man, Christian Doctrine, 
Conjuring Doctor, Witchcraft, Pashof ah Dances, Missionaries, Worcestor, 
Buttler, etc. 



Contents 23 



CHAPTER VIII. 
SOCIAL LAWS AND CUSTOMS. 

Muskogees: Clan Marrying, Courtship of the Indian. Purification 
Among the Creek Women, Polygamy Among the Creeks. Choctaws 
Never Permitted to Marry Outside Their " Iksa," Different Stratas of 
Society, Isolated Places to Reside, Traits of Economy. Chickasaws: 
Marriage License. Cherokees: No Laws of Adultery, Proud and Dis- 
dainful. 

CHAPTER IX. 
TAXES. 

Occupation Tax, Merchants, All, Cattle Tax, Different, None, Labor 
Tax, Farmer, Hired Hands. 

CHAPTER X. 
TRADE OR WEALTH. 

Chaotic Conditions: In General, Larger Towns, Smaller Towns. 
Special: Securities, Mortgages, Stock. Agricultural: Grain, Cotton, 
Muskogee, Ardmore. Cattle: Ardmore, In General. Coal-Oil Districts: 
South McAlister. Coalgate, Oil Districts, etc. Lumber: Choctaw Dis- 
tricts — Yellow Pine, Cypress, etc. Cherokee District — Oak, etc., Cot- 
tonwood, etc= 

CHAPTER XI. ', 
ITS INDUSTRIES. 

In Agriculture: Great Diversity of Crops, Fruit, Cereals, Vege- 
tables, Grain, Cotton, etc. Favorable Seasons: Early Springs, Plenty 
of Rain, Lots of Sunshine. In Live Stock: Better Grades of, Durham, 
Polled Angus, Herefords, Smaller Herds and Better Care, By Small 
Farmer, Under Sheds, Better Feed. Hogs: Do Well, No Certain Local- 
ity. In the Cities: Manufacturing — Flour, Brick, Cotton, etc. Trading 
and Shipping in Timber: Section — Choctaw, Cherokee. In Mineral, Coal, 
etc.: South McAlister, Coalgate, etc. Asphalt, Lead and Other Miner- 
als, Building Stone, Sand, Lime ? Marble, 



24 Contents 



CHAPTER XII. 
ITS FUTURE. 

History of Few Towns: Older Towns — Talequah, Fort Gibson, etc. 
Newer Towns — Checotah, Ada, Chickasaw, etc. Metropolis Towns, Mus- 
kogee, Ardmore, South McAlister. History of Farm Property; In the 
Past — By Lease, In Common. At Present — By Lease, Fee Simple, By 
Rent. In Future — Fee Simple, Rent and Lease. Mineral Sections: 
Southeast, Kind of Mineral, Coal, Lead and Zinc. In Timber: Choctaw, 
Yellow Pine, Cypress, White Oak, Hickory, Cottonwood, etc. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
TOWNS. 

Name, Location and Population of Sixty of the Principal Territory 
Towns. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
COMMISSION TO FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES. 

Date Organized, of Whom Composed, Location of Offices, Quotation 
from Seventh Annual Report of the Commission. 

CHAPTER XV. 

TREATIES AND UNITED STATES LAWS PERTAINING TO 
THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES. 

The Creek Treaty: Definition, General Allotment of Lands, Town- 
sites, Reservations, Municipal, Corporations, Claims, Rolls of Citizenship, 
Miscellaneous. The Seminole Agreement: Curtis Act, Embodying the 
Atoka Agreement, the Atoka Agreement, Allotment of Lands, Members 
Titles to Land, Railroads, Townsites, Orphan Lands. 

CHAPTER XVI. 
APPLICATION OF TREATIES AND LAWS TO EACH NATION. 

Creek Nation, Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations, Seminole Nation, 
Cherokee Nation. 



Contents 25 



CHAPTER XVII. 
REGULATIONS AND AMENDMENTS. 

Regulations for the sale of Creek Lands. For leasing of Creek 
Lands. Creek Citizens desiring to sell. Indian Agent. How shall be 
advertised. Appraisement of Lands. Appraisment not to be. public. 
Sealed Bids. How to bid on Creek Lands. Cost of conveyancing. 
Listing and opening of bids. Relisting lands. Executing of Deeds. 
What the advertisement shall contain. 

Leasing. Leases. Royalties. Inherited Lands. Inherited in- 
directly. Inherited directly. 

Amendments of October 1st, 1903. 

Amendments of November 3d, 1903. 





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Indian Territory 



CKapter I. 

HISTORY. 

In a work of the purpose for which this book is writ- 
ten it would be absolutely unnecessary to give much space 
to the history of the Indians who now occupy the broad 
areas of the Indian Territory — other than to tell how they 
came into the ownership of their country. 

However, the Indian who lives in the Territory today 
has much history that he is proud of, for perhaps no other 
tribe or tribes have played a more prominent part in the 
history of the South than the Cherokees, Muskogees, Sem- 
inoles, Chickasaws and Choctaws. 

The object of this book, therefore, is that a proper con- 
ception of the conditions actually existing in Indian Terri- 




AN INDIAN GRAVE 



tory today may be formed by the non-citizen who is so 
anxiously awaiting to take the land ror a home which has 



Indian Territory 29 

been so many years the resting place of Poor Lo — yes, only 
the resting place, and whether he will rest after the white 
man comes we do not know; perhaps God, who can 'see 
further than we, has a home awaiting him. 



I. ANCIENT HISTORY. 

The first we know of the Indians that today live in 
either of the five civilized nations come to us from the 
pages of history several hundred years ago, for it so hap- 
pened that a Spanish adventurer, whose name was Cortez, 
and whose reputation as a malefactor is still alive in Mex- 
ico, New Mexico and Arizona, among the native popula- 
tion, descended upon Mexico and by treachery and force of 
arms conquered that country. 

Among the tribes opposing the Spanish invaders were 
the Muskogees and others. After the fall of the Mexican 
empire, under Montezuma, the Muskogees, who numbered 
many thousands, and had a separate estate or Republic in 
northeastern Mexico, seeing that further resistance was 
useless, determined to emigrate to escape oppression from 
the Spaniards. 

The emigration, according to tradition, was led by the 
brothers, Chotah and Chicksa, who firmly placed a pole in 
the center of their encampment and decided to move in the 
direction it would lean on the following morning. 

Without hesitation the emigration was begun, the pole 
leaning to the east. It was set every night alternately by 
the two brothers and continually leaned to the eastward 
until they reached the greatest body of water ever known, 
which they named Misha-Sopokm, meaning "beyond age," 
whose source and mouth were unknown. 

The pole still leaned east and they built rafts and 
crossed the river, continuing their journey until the Yazoo 
river was reached. 



30 



History 



The pole stood erect the following morning and the 
messengers rushed through the encampment shouting "To- 
hah-linquish-no-yah," "Kest we all of us here." 

To commemorate the great event, a mound three 
acres in extent and fourteen feet high was built, and this 
still remains. This branch of the tribe of the Muskogees 
or Creeks became the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes. 




FIRST CREEK COUNCIL HOUSE 



The other part immigrated through Texas and. made 
a settlement in 1520 on Ked river, where they encountered 
the Alabamas also coming from the West, and drove them 
from the Red river to the Mississippi, thence to the Ohio, 
and finally to the Yazoo, where, in 1541, their fort was be- 
sieged and destroyed by De Soto. 

The journey from Mexico to Ohio required fifteen 
years. They subjugated many smaller .tribes and con- 
tinued war with the Euches and Alabamas^ when the latter 
incorporated with their nation — the Muskogees. 

Later still they divided into separate ; nations as the 
Muskogees, Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles. 

De Soto was the first white man to invade the domain 
of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, 



Indian Territory 31 

In 1540 Mobila, or Mobile, was the Choctaw capitol, 
which at that time contained eighty houses, each large 
enough to shelter one thousand persons. All their houses 
stood fronting a spearman and were surmounted by a 
strong stockade and reinforced with towers at short inter- 
vals, the stockade having two gates. 

Tush-ka-lusa, then Chief of the Choctaws, received De 
Soto with due ceremony. The latter held the son of Tush- 
ka-lusa as a prisoner for hostage. A demand for his re- 
lease brought on a hand-to-hand struggle which lasted over 
uine hours. Eighty-two mail-clad Spaniards and forty* 
five horses were killed in this battle. The Spaniards re- 
ported the loss of the Choctaws at 6,000. Tush-ka-lusa 
was killed in this battle, and the town was destroyed by 
fire and left in ruins. 

The Chickasaws and Muskogees had similar experi 
ences with De Soto, as the bow and arrow and modern 
shield afforded but little protection against men on horse- 
back clad in steel and armed with broadswords and su- 
perior weapons. 

In 1733 James Oglethorpe ascended the Savannah 
river and selected the present site of the city of Savannah 
for a colony and here he made treaties with the Yomacaws, 
a branch of the Choctaws, and with the Muskogees and 
other tribes. 

Owing to the machinations of the English, French and 
Spanish settlers, the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Cherokees and 
other tribes were kept embroiled in war with each othei 
for over a century. 

The Choctaws and Chickasaws alone lost over 50,000 
warriors in their useless conflicts. In 1798 the Choctaws 
had seventy-seven towns and were a peaceful nation. 

Among the celebrated men of the Choctaws were Tush- 
ka-lusa, William Weatherford and Tecumseh. 

The first treaty between the United States and the 
Choctaws was made in 1786. Many others followed and 



32 



History 



in 1830 the treaty for the cession of their lands East of 
the Mississippi was concluded. The tribe moved from 
their old home to the Indian Territory in the years 1840 to 
1845, and many lives were lost in this emigration. The 
Choctaw nation at this date has 32,000 citizens by blood 



WWfW^WW Efjj? f; *' " 




SCHOOL HOUSE WHERE HENRY M. STANLEY TAUGHT 



and intermarriage, and the just holdings in the Indian Ter- 
ritory amount to more than 7,000,000 acres. 

We have had a fair knowledge now of four of the five 
tribes of the Indian Territory, namely, the Muskogees, 
Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles. The other of the 
five civilized tribes is the Cherokees, and about their past 
history little is known, 



Indian Territory 33 

II. CHEROKEES. 

The origin of the Cherokee Indian is lost in antiquity. 
Some claim that tradition places them as the direct de- 
scendants of the Mound Builders; others believe to have 
found traces of a migration — at a remote period — from the 
south coast of the Gulf of Mexico, which locality the na- 
tive people had reached long before the arrival of Co- 
lumbus. 

De Soto came in conflict with them in 1540, and in a 
battle which ensued they were defeated. 

In 1620 they came in contact with the British settlers, 
in Virginia, at which time the Cherokees had settlements 
on the Appomattox river, and occupied most of Georgia, 
North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, and in fact 
all the country east of the Alleghenies. They were forced 
out of Virginia and treaties were made with them by 
South Carolina as early as 1684. 

About 1700, the Cherokees had in this region, sixty- 
four towns, but were almost continuously engaged in war 
with the tribes north of them and the Creeks (Muskogees) 
south of them, and again with the French and British at 
various periods. 

During the revolutionary war they sided with the 
British, but at its close they made a treaty with the United 
States government. 

During the civil war the tribe was divided, members 
fighting on both sides. 

Although the Cherokees have been engaged much in 
war, they were essentially an agricultural people. Phys- 
ically they were a splendid race — tall and athletic, and 
claimed blood relationship with the Powhatan tribes. 

The year of 1800 finds them well established in 
Georgia and adjoining states, living in towns and engaged 
in husbandry. The inroads of white settlers soon made 
their old homes untenable and finally forced their migra- 
tion westward. 



34 



History 



In 1802 Georgia obtained from the United States an 
agreement to extinguish, as soon as it could be done by 
treaty stipulaton, the title to all Indian lands held within 
the state. Georgia professed an utter inability ever to as- 
similate a body of Indians, declaring that she would never 
rest until they were sent out of her boundaries. It was 
this hostility that spurred the general government to has- 
ten the removal of the Cherokees. 

In spite of Georgia's claim, an agent of the war depart- 
ment, as early as 1825, reported, after an extended tour in 




AN OLD INDIAN VILLAGE 



the Cherokee country, that numberless herds of cattle 
grazed upon their extensive plains; horses were numerous; 
many and extensive flocks of sheep, goats and swine, cov- 
ered the hills and valleys. The soils of the valley and 
plains were rich and produced corn, tobaco, cotton, wheat, 
oats and potatoes; apple and peach orchards were quite 
common, etc. The nation had no debt, schools were in- 
creasing every year, and the printing press had been estab- 
lished, and books in English and Cherokee began to appear. 
This was the Arcadia General Scott Was sent to destroy, 
and the people whom Georgia held in contempt. 



Indian Territory 35 

A kind of retribution came in the raids of Sherman'? 
"Burners'' during the civil war, but it is doubtful if the 
Georgians suffered as much as did the Cherokees. 

The first body of immigrants, known as the old set- 
tlers, or Western Cherokees, about 3,000 in number, started 
for White river, in Arkansas, in 1809. 

After remaining a few years they continued their jour- 
ney to their present home. 

The Cherokees remaining in Georgia were subject to 
all sorts of outrages on the part of Georgia's land grab- 
bers, and by means of fraudulent treaties were finally com- 
polled to migrate. In 1832 the persecutions had reached 
a point where the alternative was either war or migration,, 
War simply meant utter destruction, and the migration 
was undertaken. 

In 1838 the main body, some 17,000, under compulsion 
and guard started late in the fall for the West, a remnant 
of about 800 remaining permanently in Georgia. 

The saddest event in the history of the Cherokees is 
the record of this migration from their eastern home. This 
immense caravan, consisting of men, women and children, 
weak infants, strong youths, aged and decrepit grandfath- 
ers, left Georgia to face an unusually severe winter on their 
road. The severity of the weather, together with the old 
and infirm, rendered the caravan unable to proceed more 
than five or ten miles per day, and the duration of the jour- 
ney was over ten months. The mortality was dreadful, 
and day after day numbers lay down by the roadside never 
to rise again. When the journey was finished and the roll 
was called, it was found that one-fourth of the great cara- 
van had perished and left their bones by the roadside. 

On their arrival in the Territory the Eastern Chero« 
kees claimed control of the nation by reason of their numer- 
ical strength and organization. The claim was vigorously 
disputed by the old settlers or Western Cherokees, who re- 



36 History 



fused to be governed by John Ross, the principal chief of 
the eastern branch. 

Nearly a thousand removed to Cherokee County, Texas, 
but returned in the main after the Texas revolution. 

During- their stay in Texas they almost exterminated 
the Waco and Tonkanuy tribes and fought with Texas 
against Mexico while the main body was embroiled in wars 
with the Osages, Quapaws and other tribes who disputed 
their right of residence in the Indian Territory. 

The present population of the Cherokee nation is 
101,754, according to the last census. The Cherokees num- 
ber 38,000, the remainder being intruders and trespassers. 
'About three-fourths of the tribe are imbued with white 
blood. The real estate owned by the nation comprises 
about 4,400,000 acres. 

Thus I have given you a brief history of the five civil- 
ized tribes that today occupy the great Indian Territory. 
Since they migrated there in 1835 to 1840 they have much 
history besides that made through the various treaties with 
the United States government, which I will take up under 
the head of "Government." 




ISPARHRCHER 

An Ex-Chief of the Creeks 



Indian Territory 37 

THE KEAL HISTORY OF THE INDIAN TERRITORY. 

The real history of the Indian Territory began when 
the civilized Indian migrated hither from the Southern 
States. Fort Gibson was established about 1828, then on 
the extreme frontier of the United States, as a protection 
to the Indians and an advance guard against the Spanish 
aggressions on the South and West. The famous Sam 
Houston, of Tennessee and Texas, resided there for a while, 
and the name, still famous. Washington Irving, in 1832, 
made his trip from that place to the western plains, which 
he has so graphically described in his "Tour of the 
Prairies." The first prairie he ever saw is where Wagoner 
is now situated. The "Bee Hunter" exploit was in the 
Chaska bottoms, on the Arkansas river, and the adventure 
of "Ringing the Wild Horses" occurred on the north bank 
of the Canadian river, about north of where Purcell is now 
situated. Fort Gibson was the most famous of all west- 
ern frontier posts. At one time or another nearly all the 
officers of the old regular army who rose to fame in the 
civil war on one side or the other was stationed there. 
Zachariah Taylor was there, and the ruins of the old log 
house where his famous son-in-law, Jefferson Davis, lived 
is still to be seen. Wolf hunting along the streams and 
hills between Fort Gibson and Tahlequah was an enjoyable 
pastime for the young officers of the army in the early 
days. Those early times were the days of romance and ad- 
venture, as well as of hardships and endurance. 

The Indian Territory was on the extreme western fron- 
tier of the United States at that time, but it was destined 
to be occupied and settled much sooner than any other por- 
tion of the country west of the Mississippi river. The 
hardy American frontiersmen, who, in the early part of the 
Nineteenth century, were pushing across the Allegheny 
mountains to Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- 
bama and Mississippi, clearing the lands and opening there 
new territories to settlement and fitting them to become 



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41 



future states, were not to be the pioneers of this country. 
It was set apart for the Indians, to be settled and occupied 
by them as a home forever. "As long as the grass grows 




CROPPING COTTON 



and the water runs." The white settlers were rapidly in- 
truding upon the Indian country in the Southern States 
east of the Mississippi, and difficulties and conflicts be- 
tween the races were engendered by this contact. It soon 



42 Indian Territory 

became manifest that they would not dwell together in 
peace and harmony, but the Indians would be overwhelmed, 
swallowed up and lost as tribes, in the ever-increasing tide 
of white immigration to the Southern States. 

Their history, could it be written since they became 
the owners in common of the great Indian Territory, would 
be as interesting as that of any other section in America. 
Their wars with each other are full of exciting adventure, 
and would fill many pages of very interesting history. 
Those of our readers who are interested in the history of 
the Indians of the Indian Territory will do well to read 
Dunn's book (which is nearly completed) entitled "Susan of 
Old Ft. Gibson." This story portrays much of the history, 
many exciting events, and a romance, interesting to all who 
love history. 




CHapter II. 

RESOURCES. 

In speaking of the resources of the Indian Territory 
we are talking of a country where thousands and thou- 
sands of acres still lie sheltered under the wild grasses of 
nature's giving, and on which live great numbers of long- 
horned cattle, watched by the sturdy cowboy, who until of 
recent years has been the "cattle's fence" as well as master. 

These great droves are born and reared on such pas- 
turage, until finally in their master's eye they have bit suf- 
ficient of the wild grass to render them fit for the market. 

Then long trains of cattle cars toil across the country 
bearing their heavy burdens to the great cities in the 
states. 

All this time the farmer of Kansas, Iowa, Illinois, Mis- 
souri and other agricultural states, dreams in thoughtful 
meditation as he watches the heavy trains plod eastward 
with their live freight, and, perhaps, by the next year he 
(this farmer) may be forced to a new home a little nearer 
the many thousands of acres; or to the land of the cattle, 
and the country yet scarcely known to the plow. 

The farmer moves slowly onward, a little nearer each 
year. But this movement, slow and irregular, as it may 
seem, tells of a sad, sad future for the peaceful acres of 
prairie grass — an evil omen that the day is at hand when 
their nature's dressing must soon be torn by the plowshare 
like unto the history of its sister sections which have all 
gone before it. The great Indian Territory, too, will soon 
be only history for the future American boy and girl. 

For many years the Indian Territory has seemed to 
possess extraordinary attractions to the home-seeker. Thi$ 
sentiment had its origin soon after the removal of the five, 

43 



44 



Indian Territory 



civilized tribes from their lands east of the Mississppi, and 
has propagated with truly remarkable fecundity ever since. 

The average man has only to be debarred from any- 
where to at once &>?1 his curiosity and desire stimulated. 

Scarcely h/ r I the Indians settled on their new posses- 
sions when cilice intruders, tempted by the fertilty of the 
lands, invaded the territory, and they have remained not- 
withstanding all efforts to eject them, and they will re- 




HARVEST SCENE 



main in spite of the steady opposition, both from the In- 
dian governments within," and the United States govern- 
ment without. 

This, perhaps, seems strange, yet it is absolutely true, 
and, as I said in my introduction, there must be an unusual 
attraction that will induce three hundred and fifty thou- 
sand intelligent people to move into a country where they 
are expressly told they are not wanted; where they can own 
no real property; where to remain means to sacrifice all po- 
litical rights and absolute exclusion from participation in 



Resourced 45 



affairs of either local or national government, and where 
they must live under a constant threat of eviction. 

To say that under such « ircumstances, the charms of 
the territory have apparently outweighed those of other 
sections of our broad domain, is to pay p natural re- 
sources of the country a compliment which v x uld be diffi- 
cult to parallel. 

Is this compliment to the territory deserved? 

In answering, let us take last year's report. During 
the year of 1902 the Indian Territory produced 4,500,000 
bushels of wheat, corn and oats; 4,000,000 bushels of veg* 
etables; 60,000 bales of cotton, and 175,000 tons of hay, 
valued at f 1,000,000. Most of this was grown ami gath- 
ered by white non-citizens on land leased to them by the 
Indians, who had ownership in it only because- they be- 
longed to the tribes that owned it in common. And with 
it all, only a small portion of the soil of the 'Indian Terri- 
tory has yet been cultivated. 

The Indians own a great many head of cattle and yet 
the majority of the cattle grazing in the Indian Territory 
is the property of white non-citizens, who pay the citizens 
twenty-five cents per head for grazing privileges. 

There are 33,000 square miles of land in the Indian 
Territory, more than 75 per cent, of which is highly arable, 
only a comparatively small portion beng mountainous. The 
general surface is prairie, with rich alluvial soil, and it is 
superbly watered, especially in the southern part. All the 
streams are heavily timbered. The soils are capable of a 
high state of cultivation; the rainfall is generally -abund- 
ant, and the land is capable of producing wheat, corn, hay, 
vegetables, cotton and fruits. In the same fields may be 
grown "both food and clothing." 

The oak covered hills are generally sterile and worth- 
less for agricultural purposes, but to the flock-master they 
are valuable, and where an abundance of game, fine spring 
water and convenience to wood, led the Indians to settle 



46 



Indian Territory 



when they were first transferred to the territory, and where 
the full-bloods still remain, eking out existence on a few 




TERRITORY FARMS 



acres of corn raised in the valley or on hogs raised on 
acorns. 

These are the real Indians and are contemptuously 
known as the Hill Builders. By admission of the wisest 



Resources 47 



men they are no more civilized nor fit for citzenship than 
they were years ago. This is a case of arrested progress, 
and it is believed that the only hope of civilizing them is to 
induce them to settle on the fertile lands, rent portions to 
the whites, mingle freely with them and attend their 
churches and schools. 

The government is trying to bring about such condi- 
tions, which it will accomplish within a few years. 

The Chickasaw nation has an area of 7,267 square miles 
and the largest amount of real good agricultural land in 
the territory. It is a rolling prairie, particularly well 
watered, lying as it does along the Red river, which has 
many tributaries (feeders), thus giving many acres of fine 
bottom land to all this section. 

There are no arid lands in the Creek nation, and al- 
though but a small proportion of the 2,000.000 acres are 
farmed about 70 per cent, or more of the land is said to be 
susceptible of a high state of cultivation- 
Great belts of valuable timber grow along the streams, 
consisting of hickory, ash, pecan, oak, maple, cottonwood, 
walnut and sycamore. 

The soil is a rich sand loam. The Deep fork and the 
North fork of the Canadian river flow across the natioD 
and empty into the Canadian near Eufaula, while the 
South Canadian forms the southern boundary of the na- 
tion. Before the advent of the railroads they were used 
for transportation. 

The lands of the Cherokee nation are easily susceptible 
to cultivation as those of the Creek nation, and has 2,575, 
436 acres of agricultural lands. The crops that can be 
raised are such as can be grown in Southern Kansas and 
Eastern Oklahoma. The land is well diversified, the north- 
western part being rolling prairies and the southern and 
eastern portions hilly, mountainous and covered with for- 
ests, the whole well watered with rivers, streams and 
springs. Thousands of springs of clear, pure, soft, cool 



48 Indian Territory 

water are found in the hills, while springs of chalybeate, 
salt and sulphur are numerous. 

The Seminole nation is by far the smaller of the five, 
and plays very little part in the agricultural wealth of the 
Indian Territory. Most of its area is hilly and upland cov- 
ered with timber. However, considerable cotton is pro- 
duced and marketed, and its land may attain a good state 
of cultivation. 

The Choctaw nation, the largest by far, has over 
8,000,000 acres, but a great part of it is rocky, hilly and 




WATERMELON FARM 

mountainous, except along the streams, where a great por- 
tion of the land is capable of a high state of cultivation. 
The southern portion will no doubt attain as high a state 
of cultivation as any of the other nations, and will produce 
all the staple cereals. 

A large area of the Choctaw nation is underlaid with 
coal, which has only been worked in a few places. It is 
a semi-anthracite, and is of a very fine quality, with a ready 
market for all that is mined, and a great deal of it is being 
shipped. 

On the whole, the agricultural and horticultural re- 
sources of the Indian Territory are great in every way, 
which has been proven during the last few years. 



Resources 49 



The soil, while variable in kind and quality, responds 
wonderfully to conscientious cultivation and produces 
magnificent crops of corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, cotton, 
fruits and commercial truck — in short, all the staple crops 
yield abundantly and are produced under less strain and 
hardship than in a more northerly state. 

The climate conditions are very favorable; the atmos- 
phere is pure and bracing, and there is sunshine 200 days 
of the year, with as much rainfall as in the average central 
and western state. During the year of 1900 the rainfall 
for the United States was 28.6 inches; for the Indian Terri- 
tory, 34.50 inches; Iowa, 35.60 inches; Illinois, 35.30 inches, 
etc. The precipitation is the heaviest over the northeast- 
ern part, and more particularly in the Cherokee nation. 
Then you see there is an abundance of rain. 

Spring opens in February and runs into May, when 
summer begins. The winters are short and mild, the only 
cold weather being confined to the month of January. The 
country is especially adapted to the cultivation of fine, 
fruits, which mature from two to four weeks earlier than 
those of Missouri and Southern Illinois, and reach the mar* 
ket at a time when there is a good demand. 

The timber belt of the territory lies mostly within the 
Choctaw nation. The principal lumber timber of this sec- 
tion is yellow pine. It is very heavy — seven pounds to the 
foot, board measure. This pine grows rapidly. It is full 
of pitch and its sapwood is much thicker than that of the 
pine further North. A great deal of lumber has been cut 
by mill men. 

The principal hard wood is white oak, though not of a 
commercial quality. Such cedar as grew in the territory 
was cut years ago and shipped out of the country. Gum 
spruce is found along nearly all the rivers. There is very 
little walnut in the country. Cypress grows along the, 
rivers in the southern part of the territory. The hickory* 



50 



Indian Territory 



basswood, sycamore, hackberry and elm of the territory 
are of much value. 

The mineral resources of the timbered belts of the 
Choctaw nation show ledges of "bull quartz," which cross 
cut the formation in many localities. Surface indications 
point to iron,, lead, zinc and coal in many places. There 
are fables of old Spanish silver mines in many communi- 
ties. Another Veil known story is about a place where 
the Indians formerly obtained lead for moulding bullets. 
There are tales of gold deposits, but up to the present time 




FARMING PAYS 



there has been no prospecting for that metal. Surface in- 
dications of copper, manganese and graphite are occasion- 
ally seen. 

A word of summary of the natural resources of the In- 
dian Territory and I will pass the subject: 

For diversity of crops there is no country better 
adapted, and the climate conditions are favorable, so that 
crops are marketed a month earlier and at a higher price 
than further north, and the mean rainfall has proven that 
which adds much to the success of profitable production. 

Again, there are great coal beds awaiting the arrival 
of the non-citizen to work them, and fine timber covers 



Resources 51 



manv acres, from which can be cut lumber for new dwell- 
ings and for manufacturing purposes. Oil and natural gas 
abound in the northern part which is already being worked 
to a certain extent. The Standard Oil Company has se- 
cured the right-of-way for a pipe line from the Bartletsville 
district to their great refineries at Neodesha, Kansas, ancj 
are now constructing a storage tank of 50,000 barrels ca- 
pacity at that point to care for the immediate product. 

The Bartletsville oil has an asphalt basis, with 60 per 
cent, of almost pure kerosene oil, so much so that it will fire 
an engine just as it conies from mother earth. The wells 
so far have a capacity of from 10 to 100s barrels per day, 
which has a /ready market value of $1.16 per barrel. Its 
specific gravity is 31; flash, 120, and fire test, 170. 

Experts hold that it will be a greater field than the 
great field of Beaumont. 

All in all the Indian Territory has more of the nat- 
ural resources which conspire to make a great country than 
any other section of its size in America. 





A FULL BLOOD MAID 



52 



CKapter III. 

THE PEOPLE. 

The commercial and social condition of the Indian 
Territory is probably less well known than the resources to 
the average person of the States. Although surrounded 
by a great commonwealth, whose population is noted for 
intelligence and cultivation, beyond its boundaries the In- 
dian Territory is almost an unknown land. In the States, 
except those surrounding it, it is regarded as a wild coun- 
try, the inhabitants of which are "merely Indians" who 
wear blankets and live in wigwams. 

As a matter of fact, it is a country almost as large as 
Ohio, with a population of more than 500,000, of whom only 
80,000 are Indians and freedmen, and not one of whom 
wears a blanket. Most of these Indians can hardly be dis- 
tinguished from white men, and all of them understand 
and many can speak the English language. 

Besides the citizens of the five civilized tribes, namely 
the Cherokees, the Muskogee or Creek, the Siminole (trans- 
lated the "Strayed Ones" members of the Creek tribe), the 
Choctaws and Chickasaws, the only other Indians within 
the Indian Territory are on the Quapaw reservations in the 
northeast corner. The various tribes of the Quapaw 
agency are small parties of Modocs, Peorias and Ottawas, 
remnants of once formidable bands. There are also a few 
Wyandottes, Shawnees and Senecas. There are not more 
than 1,500 Indians in these reservations, if that many. They 
cut no figure in the general statistics of the territory. 

A subdivision of the population of the Indian Terri- 
tory has been compiled up to the present time from the 
Dawes Commisson's report on allotment, and from railroad 
and commercial statistics in the various cities and towns 
in the territory, which shows at a glance the great di- 
versity of interests therein. 

54 



Indian Territory 



55 



"Mixed bloods" are those of all degrees of Indian con- 
sanguinty — from half bloods to the most remote diminu- 
tion, as low in some cases as the 254th part, which means 
almost total extinction. Intermarried w^hites are men and 
women who have married Indians, of whatever degree, and 
who, by reason of such marriage, have all the rights of cit- 
izenship and the community of property. Freedmen are 




A CREEK FREEDMAN 



negroes, once the slaves of the Indians, brought with them 
from the South when they originally immigrated to the In- 
dian Territory, and freed at the conclusion of the civil war, 
being adopted into the various tribes as citizens and given 



all the rights of the Indian. 



The over-reaching desire of white persons to share in 
the property rights of the Indians has caused many at- 
tempts to be made by the applicants to avoid the existing 
laws of the tribes relative to intermarried citzenship. There 



56 



The People 



has been in effect various acts providing for marriage li- 
cense fees for a non-citizen marrying an Indian. These 
license fees have been made as high as $1,000.00, mainly to 
prevent the non-citizen from obtaining citizenship by inter- 
marriage. Innumerable cases of divorce, separation and 
desertion is the most noted result of this class of citizen- 
ship. 




CREKK CITIZEN FAMILY 



White non-citizens are those who have ventured in the 
country, either upon the invitation of the Indian, or in 
quest of fortune, and who have been a potent force in civil- 
izing the Indian. These are responsible for the commer- 
cial and industrial up-building of the territory. The enor- 
mous preponderance of this portion of the population is 
striking to the student of conditions in the Indian Ter- 
ritory. 



Indian Territory 5? 



The sub-division by nations is as follows: 

CHEKOKEE NATION. 

Full Bloods 6,400 

Mixed Bloods 21,000 

Intermarried Whites 2,000 

Freedmen 4,000 

Quapaw Indians . . . .4 1,500 

White Non-Citizens 100,131 

CREEK NATION. 

Full Bloods 6,500 

Mixed Bloods 3,500 

Freedmen 5, 500 

Intermarried Whites None 

White Non-Citizens 42,761 

(The Creeks have no laws permitting intermarriage 
with whites, and there are few, if any, white citizens in the 
nation — probably two or three by adoption.) 

CHOCTAW NATION. 

Full Bloods 3,500 

Mixed Bloods. 14,000 

Intermarried Whites 1,450 

Freedmen 4,500 

White Non-Citizens 149,296 

CHICKASAW NATION. 

Full Bloods 6,800 

Mixed Bloods 5,100 

Intermarried Whites 675 

Freedmen 5,500 

White Non-Citizens .150,000 

SEMINOLE NATION. 

Full and Mixed Bloods 3,786 

White Non-Citizens 1,029 

While the Indian citizens of the five civilized tribes 
have each nominally their tribal forms of government un- 



58 



The People 



der governors or chiefs, with upper and lower houses of 
Legislature, they are really governed by the Department of 
the Interior, with four judicial districts of the United 
States Federal Court, and an Indian agent, at Muskogee, 




CREEK WOMAN 



in the Creek nation. But I will take this subject up under 
the head of government. 

The Indians of the five civilized tribes have among 
them farmers and stock-raisers, blacksmiths, tinners, car- 
penters, doctors, preachers, lawyers, editors and teachers. 
Education has changed the characteristics of the Indian 
substantially. As a rule, he is a self-supporting man, liv- 
ing in a house of his own construction, and on the proceeds 



Indian Territory 



59 



of his own labor. He will eventually be the beneficiary 
of the building of roads and bridges, the court houses and 
public institutions that will follow state government. 

The new generation of Indians in the Indian Territory 
will come into a great heritage, and is being prepared to 
receive and care for it. Boys and girls are being sent to 




A MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAW 
One Hundred Years Old 



the best schools. The Indian girls, most of them, owing 
to the admixture of the Indian and white bloods, retain 
the best characteristics of both, are charming and often 
beautiful. Many of them are attending colleges in the 
East. When they return they will marry young whites 
of good families. 

It will be seen by the subdivision of the population 1 
given herewith how small is the proportion of full bloo'd 



60 The People 



Indians. These keep to themselves, as a rule, living re- 
motely in the hills on the proceeds of their own labor as 
small farmers. But their children are advancing. 

The condition of the white non-citizen is certanly an 
anomalous one. While he is the creature of the wealth 
and some of the material progress of the territory, he has 
no standing, except in municipal affairs, and that only with- 
in the last two years. He is, in a sense, an intruder, and 
is so regarded. The influx of whites from the "states," as 
the world outside the territory is called, was enormous, in 
the years of 1901 and 1902. It has been estimated that the 
increase of whites, since the census of 1900 has been fully 
50 per cent., and it is stated by creditable and well-in- 
formed citizens that in some of the towns the increase has 
greatly exceeded this, for some of the towns have doubled 
their population since 1900. 

These whites are of the best quality of American citi- 
zenship. They are mostly young men of brains and with 
some capital. They hail from every part of the union as 
the following table which notes only the states furnishing 
the largest numbers, attests: 

Missouri 33,060 

Illinois 9,245 

Iowa 2,702 

Kansas 9,818 

Nebraska 853 

Indiana 3, 165 

Ohio 3,302 

Pennsylvania 1,886 

New York 900 

Virginia 1 2,407 

North Carolina 2,909 

South Carolina 1,293 

Georgia 8,486 

Kentucky 8,662 

Tennessee 18,149 

Alabama . % 11,063 

Mississippi 10, 155 

Texas 62,425 



Indian Territory 



61 



But there are also men from Maine, New Hampshire, 
Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Delaware as well 
as from every northwest state. 




A CHOCTAW GIRL 



Until recently they could not own a foot of realty. Busi- 
ness conditions were in a chaotic state, as business is re- 
garded in the states, and the only collateral with a banker's 
attention was "hoofs" arid "horns" — that is the vast herds 
of outside cattle driven to the range of the territory to 
graze. 



62 



The People 



Under treaty ratified by the Creek council, no child 
born subsequent to July 1, 1900, may be enrolled. A sim- 
ilar treaty failed to pass at about the same time with the 
Cherokees, while, in the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations a 
treaty prevails, which, in substance, is that no child born 
to any citizen or freedman after September 1, 1901, nor any 
white person who intermarries with a Choctaw or Chick- 
asaw citizen after said date shall be entitled to enrollment. 

The Indian Territory is fast filling up with a better 
class of men, who are civilizing it with the principles of 
American thrift, honesty and love of home. They have 
and are making the territory their home and when that is 
done, by any great number of Americans, no matter where 
it may be, a new life is begun, and a great commonwealth is 
made. Such is determined and is now within a few short 
years for the Indian Territory. 




A CHICKASAW TYPE 




MISSISSIPPI CHOCTA.WS 




OLD BARRACKS - FORT GIBSON 



65 



CHapter IV. 

GOVERNMENT. 

In speaking on this subject I feel my inability of doing 
the great laws of the territory justice, but I will give a 
few words as I have learned them concerning the Indian 
Territory. 

Each of the five civilized tribes have their governor or 
chief and make their own laws to a certain extent. They 
have both an upper house, or House of Kings, and a lower 
house, or House of Warriors, or an executive and legisla- 
tive, which make and execute local laws governing them- 
selves, but really the Indian after all is ruled by the De- 
partment of the Interior, with four judicial districts of the 
United States Federal Court, and an Indian agent at Mus- 
kogee, in the Creek nation, called the Union Agency, by 
reason of such agency being guardian over the five nations. 

The executives of the ^ye civilized tribes are as fol- 
lows: Pleasant Porter, principal chief of the Creek nation; 
T. M. Bufifington, principal chief of the Cherokee nation; 
Hulputta Micco, principal chief of the Seminole nation; 
Green McCurtain, principal chief of the Choctaw nation, 
and P. S. Mosely, governor of the Chickasaw nation. 

By act of Congress of March 3, 1901, the Indians are 
quasi-citizens of the United States. March 6, 1906, all 
tribal relations must cease, their legislative bodies dis- 
band, and their chiefs or governors thus retired to private 
life. Then they will become citizens in fact, and no longer 
Indians save by blood. Their guardian, the United States 
government, will cast them loose to shift for themselves. 

The Indian of the Indian Territory is the most fortun- 
ate of American citizens. He begins his citizenship 
splendidly endowed. He has been well educated in the 
fine Indian schools supported out of the wealth held in 

67 



68 Indian Territory 

trust for him by the United States. He has been taught 
trades and professions, and will soon become the possessor 
of a large body of as fine land as exists anywhere, as well 
as a large legacy now held in trust by the United States 
government. Before he becomes a citizen, the United 
States must pay him his proportion of the millions belong- 
ing to the five civilized tribes, and which now lie in the 
vaults at Washington, D. C. 

The Indian owns the Indian Territory, and until re- 
cently not a foot of realty could be had by the non-citizen, 
but the bars are being broken down, and so now title can 
be gained to the town property, and also land in the Creek 
nation subject to the approval of the Secretary of the In- 
terior, while in a feAV years such will follow in the other 
nations. 

Recently, by act of Congress, lots in towns may be 
bought by non-citizens, the receipts from which go to the 
tribal funds. But outside the towns, the best the white 
non-citizen can do is to become a lease-holder from an In- 
dian. When the allotments to the Indian are finished, 
however, the "outlander" may buy the lands he is now 
tilling. 

The government of the five tribes is patterned after 
that of the States of the union. Congress passes and the 
United States Courts execute all laws pertaining to gen- 
eral matter, and the Department of the Interior formulates 
rules and regulations under treaties with each nation. The 
incorporated towns have the authority to govern them- 
selves, as in the States, giving an opportunity to provide 
schools and public improvements. 

The territory is divided into four judicial districts and 
courts are regularly held at Muskogee, Vinita, South Mc- 
Alester and Ardmore, where United States jails are lo- 
cated. The judicial system of the Choctaw and Chicka- 
saw nations is vested in a supreme court, and circuit and, 
countv courts. 



Government 69 



By recent treaties, under act of Congress, in 1893, cre- 
ating the Dawes Commission, and the later provisions of 
the Curtis act of 1898, the Indiana lands are being allotted 
to the tribal members. It was found on investigation 
that, instead of the reservations being used as homes 
for the Indians they were really diminuted by the squaw- 
men (whites who had married Indian wives, and were be- 
coming rich by manipulation of the lands). Under the su- 
pervision of the Dawes Commission the lands have been 
surveyed, the Indians have been listed by name and per- 
sonal appearance or description, and the land of each tribe 
is being divided among the tribe's members, all sharing 
alike. With the Creeks this work is completed. Each 
of the 16,000 members of the tribes will receive about 160 
acres of lands, of which he may sell 120 acres when he re- 
ceives his deed from the Interior Department, which has 
representative officers at Muskogee, whose duties are to 
pass upon all land sales by the Indian, and thus protect 
him from fraud. The remainder he may sell only after 
twenty years. After five years from April 23, 1901, all 
the land except the homestead may be sold without the 
consent of the Interior. 



TITLES. 

For many years the white men from the states, the 
commercial adventurers who left the crowded East to risk 
their capital in the fresh and lawless Indian Territory to 
build up its towns and foster its trade, were absolutely 
without right or title to a foot of the soil they occupied. To 
this day the non-citizen of the territory may not own a 
foot of land outside the towns, except within the Creek 
nation, where farm lands can now be deeded, subject to 
the restrictions referred to above. In the years that have 
gone, he has erected his buildings on lots which he held by 
slight tenure and paid rent to the Indian, 



70 Indian Territory 

By act of Congress May 31, 1900, the Secretary of the 
Interior was authorized to lay out and survey all town sites 
in the territory having a population of 200 or more. To 
carry on this work Congress appropriated $150,000.00 to 
be used in making surveys and appraisements in the Choc- 
taw, Creek and Cherokee nations. 

The towns of the Creek nation have practically been 
surveyed and appraised in accordance with this act, and all 
the small towns and postoffices of the Choctaw, Chickasaw 
and Cherokee nations were visited by surveyors. In the 
Choctaw and Chickasaw nations a supplemental agreement 
is pending, which provides that occupants or purchasers of 
lots in town sites upon which no improvements were made 
prior to the ratification of the act of Congress July 1, 1902, 
shall pay the full appraised value of such lots, instead of 
the percentage formerly agreed upon. 

In the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, the first pay- 
ment, or 25 per cent., must be made in sixty days from the 
date of purchase, and the balance in three equal annual in- 
stallments. 

No titles to town lots have been passed as yet in the 
Cherokee nation, because no appraisements have been 
made. 

In the Creek nation a large number of town lot deeds 
have been issued. The agreement with this nation pro- 
vides that all conveyances shall be approved by the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, which approval shall serve as a relin- 
quishment to the grantee of all right, title or interest of the 
United States in and to the lands embraced in the deed, 
and hence the Indian title is extinct. Therefore all deeds 
to lots in this nation are submitted to the department. 

When full payment for any lot in the Creek nation has 
been made to the United States Indian Agent, he at once, 
in addition to furnishing the owner of a lot with a final re- 
ceipt, issues a statement or certificate in duplicate, one of 
Which he forwards to the Principal Chief of the Creek na- 




71 



Government 73 



tion and one to the Indian Inspector, setting forth the fact 
that the party named has made full payment for the lots 
described, in accordance with the apraisement made by the 
town site commission, and is entitled to a deed therefor. 
The deed is then drawn by the Principal Chief and trans- 
mitted to the office of the Indian Inspector, where the du- 
plicate certificate of final payment issued by the Indian 
Agent is attached, and the deed is transmitted to the de- 
partment for the approval of the Secretary of the Interior, 

The treaty agreement also provides that the Dawes 
Commission shall record all deeds; therefore, when the 
deeds are approved by the department they are forwarded 
to the commission to be recorded, and the commission in, 
turn transmits them to the Principal Chief to be delivered 
to the gTantee. 

In the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations the agreement 
does not provide that the deeds shall be approved by the 
Secretary of the Interior, and, therefore, when full pay- 
ment for any lot in their nations is made the deeds are 
drawn up in the office of the Indian agent at Muskogee and 
transmitted to the Principal Chief of the Choctaw nation 
and the governor of the Chickasaw nation for execution 
and return. After they are received by the agent, properly 
executed, they are forwarded to the persons entitled to 
them. 

In appraising town lots a committee is selected for 
each town, whose duty it is to place a true value on the 
land exclusive of improvements. The committee consists 
of one member to be appointed by the Secretary of the In- 
terior, one by the Principal Chief and one by the town au- 
thorities, neither of whom shall be interested in any town 
lot or lands in the town, except one lot upon which he may 
reside. If the Principal Chief or town authorities fail to 
appoint a member of any appraisement committee, the ap- 
pointment may be made by the Secretary of the Interior. 



74 



Indian Territory 



Any person in rglitful rjossession of any town lot hay- 
ing improvements thereon other than temporary buildings. 




CRAZY SNAKli 
A Notorious Indian 



fencing and tillage, has the right to bny the lot and pay 
one : half the appraised value thereof, bmt if he fails within 
sixty days to purchase the lot and make the first payment 



Government 75 



the lot and improvements are sold to the highest bidder 
under the discretion of the appraisement committee at a 
price not less than their appraised value, and the purchaser 
shall pay the purchase price to the owner of the improve 
ments, less the appraised value of the lots. 

Any person holding lands within the town occupied by 
him as a home shall have the right to purchase the lots em- 
braced in same by paying one-half of the appraised value. 
Any person having the right of occupancy of a residence lot 
in any town, whether improved or not, and owning no other 
lands in the town, shall have the right to purchase the lot 
by paying one-half of the appraised value. 

Authority has been conferred upon municipal corpora- 
tions in the Creek nation to issue bonds, borrow money 
thereon for sanitary purposes, and for the construction of 
sewers, lighting plants, water works and school houses, 
subject to all the provisons of law in force in the organized 
territories of the United States in reference to municipal 
indebtedness and issuance of bonds for public purposes. 

LAND ALLOTMENTS. 

Not until the allotment of lands is finished in the In- 
dian Territory can the white non-citizen hope to buy any 
lands for farming purposes therein. This has been done 
already in the Creek nation, and land can be bought on ap- 
lands in the Creek nation, and land can be bought on ap- 
proval of the Secretary of the Interior. In the other na 
tions he may have lands, such as have been alloted, or from 
individuals controlling the allotments of others. 

The allotment of lands in all the nations will be fin- 
ished in about two years. The Creeks are able to deed, 
while the Seminoles have taken their allotments and are, 
capable of leasing. The allotment of land to the Chero- 
kees has begun. The Choctaws and Chickasaws allotment 
began in February, 1903. 

Among the Cherokees the allotment is 110 acres to 
each member of the family, average allotable land; Sem- 



76 Indian Territory 

moles, 80 acres; Creeks, 160 acres; Choctaws, 320 acres, and 
Chickasaws, 320 acres. This land is allotted according to 
the following appraisement: 

Appraised value 
Description— per acre. 

Natural open bottom land $6 50 

Best black prairie land ; 6 50 

.Bottom land covered with timber thickets. ... 6 50 

Best prairie land other than black 5 00 

Bottom land subject to overflow 4 00 

Prairie land smooth and tillable 4 00 

Rough land free from rocks 3 00 

Rolling land free from rocks 4 00 

Rocky prairie land 2 50 

Sandy prairie land 3 00 

Alkali prairie land 3 00 

Hilly and rocky land 2 00 

Swamp land 2 50 

Mountain pasture land 1 50 

Mountain land, sandy, barren 1 50 

Mountain land, silicious 1 00 

Rough and Rocky mountain land 50 

Flint hills. 50 

No allotment will be made of lands in tracts of less 
than a quarter of a section, except within the Cherokee 
nation. 

The method by which non-citizens are obtaining farm- 
ing lands in the Cherokee, Choctaw, Seminole and Chicka- 
saw nations now is by leasing from the allottee direct, or 
sub-leasing from a lessee who controls a number of allot- 
ments. Capitalists in the Indian Territory, generally 
citizens by adoption, have received enormous tracts of land 
from the Indian allottees, agreeing to make certain im- 
provements, and paying from 20 to 75 cents per acre each 
year. The land is divided into small farms, generally 80 
acres. A house is built, fences set, a well dug and the 
farm leased for five years for strictly agricultural purposes 
to a farmer from the States at a crop rental of one-third of 



Government 77 



the corn and one-fourth of the cotton. If the lessee is 
without capital the lessor will generally furnish money for 
wagons, implements, etc. 

It is not unusual that an Indian holds from 1,000 to 
1,500 acres in the allotments belonging to himself, wife 
and several children. From such a man a section, 640 
acres, is often rented for {500.00 a year with the improve- 
ments. A tract of 160 acres may be had for 50 cents per 
acre per year, and the improvements — that is a house and 
barn, fences and well. Or one may buy a small portion 
and add to his farm in the following manner: he may lease 
from the Indian, who as soon as he gets his patent for his 
allotment may sell his surplus land. 

A homestead of forty acres out of every allotment is 
inalienable forever. At the end of five years, or in 
1906, the Indian becomes a citizen of the United States in 
fact. The treaties are to the effect that the lands are in- 
alienable for twenty-one years, but it is the general opinion 
that the Indian may sell his surplusage as soon as he ob- 
tains his patent, if the buyer desires to take the risk under 
bond of a decision against the validity of such sales. The 
ruling was of course made to protect the Indian. But the 
Indian is no fool. Sometimes he is improvident, but with 
the exception of the full bloods the Indian is a shrewd 
trader, and is usually honest in his dealings. 

The qualifications for voting in the towns of the five 
nations are practically the same as in the towns of other 
territories and states. All male inhabitants over the age 
of twenty-one years who have lived in the towns for more 
than six months and who are citizens of the United States 
or either of the tribes are qualified voters. 

The mayors of all towns in addition to their other pow- 
ers have the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases 
arising within the limits of the town, as United States Com- 
missioners in the Indian Territory. 



A ^*«**f 



78 



CHapter V. 

INDIAN GOVERNMENT. 
THE MUSKOGEES OR CREEKS. 

The present form of government, adopted by the Mus- 
kogees at the close of the civil war, differs considerably 
from that of the other nations. It is based upon the United 
States constitution, and modeled after the old Creek code. 
Combining, as it does, the semi-barbaric with the modern 
elements, its constitution is such as to suggest that its 
framers — however anxious to introduce the modern system 
of government — were unwilling to quite depart from their 
primitive methods of legislation. On the first reading of 
the constitution it was met by almost overwhelming oppo- 
sition, but was finally carried after a stormy debate. The 
full bloods at first feared that the introduction of certain 
modern features in its formation might have a dangerous 
tendency, but the matter being thoroughly explained their 
scruples were set aside. The framers of the Creek consti- 
tution deserve great credit for the tact they displayed in 
its construction, combining as it does the best modern 
form of government with the semi-barbaric code, and in 
this manner reconciling the full bloods to its adoption. 

The government is under the executive control of one 
principal chief, one second chief, forty-seven members of 
the House of Kings and ninety-eight members of the House 
of Warriors. 

There are forty-seven towns or petty governments, 
each of which sends a representative to the Upper House, 
and from one to three to the Lower House in proportion to 
the population. 

The chief is elected every four years, and his salary is 
fixed at f 1,000 per annum. The second^ chief is elected at 
the same time at a salary of $700 per year. The office of 



Indian Territory 81 

the second chief is a sinecure, this lucky individual hav- 
ing no public duties to perform, unless during the absence 
or illness of the first chief or his death during office, when 
it becomes his duty to fill the unexpired term. The mem- 
bers of the legislature are paid at the rate of $4.00 per 
day and mileage during the sitting of the council, which 
lasts generally from three to five weeks. Thus the ex j 
pense of the legislation is a large item amounting some 
years to almost $20,000. 

The salaries of the Cabinet officers are small. The 
Treasurer, Auditor, National Agent, National Attorney 
and National Secretary receiving from $3.00 to $6.00; ex- 
cept the National Attorney, who has $100 per year and 
$25.00 on each conviction. 

The Creek nation has no counties, but is divided into 
six judiciary districts, each of which has a district judge. 
The districts are as follows: Wewoka, Coweta, Musko- 
gee, Eufaula, Deep Fork and Okmulgee. Pre-eminent in 
point of jurisdiction is the supreme court, which meets 
twice a year at the capital and is represented by five su- 
preme judges. 

To hold legislative or judicial office in the nation it is 
necessary to be of Indian blood. Intermarriage between 
a United States citizen and a Creek woman does not con- 
fer citizenship except by special act of the Legislature. 
Consequently there are fewer intermarriages, and the gov- 
ernment is wholly in the hands of the Indian people. 

The laws of the Creek nation are much better enforced 
than those of the Choctaw nation, and this fact, together 
with their distance from the States line, should subject the 
citizen to less danger from outside intrusion, but such is 
not true to any great extent. 

The constitution of 1866, made provisions for the adop- 
tion of the freedmen dwelling in the Creek nation be- 
fore the war, and thus they are entitled to the full rights 
and privileges of national born Muskogee citizens. 



82 Indian Government 



CHOCTAWS. 

During the presidency of Mr. Jackson we find the 
Choctaws occupying a considerable tract of country in Mis- 
sissippi, and living under the government of a king, who 
usually inherited the royal office. Prior to the revolution- 
ary war several kings were appointed by the British, and 
still further back the French were instrumental in choos- 
ing the crowned head. 

Xext in order came the chiefs, each "iksa" or clan 
having one principal and subordinate chief. The captain 
and warriors ranked next, being dominant over the tillers 
of the soil, etc., etc. The principal "iksa" or clans were 
the Hyah-pah-tuk-kolo (twin lakes), Oklla-fal-lah-ya (long 
people), Ol-alla-lumnah-lay (six towns). Chickasaw-hay 
(Chickasaws), Korn-chas, and the Imok-lu-sha. 

The royal home or the home of the kings was of the 
Hyah-pah-tuk-kolo. It was called the "Hattak-i-kallatah" 
(beloved of the people) and no Choctaw save of royal blood 
was permitted to sit upon the throne. 

Wonderful has been the change in the form of govern- 
ment of the Choctaws since they migrated to the territory. 
This we have no hesitation in attributing* to the great ad 
vantages derived from self-government. A comparison 
between the Indians who remained in the old States sub- 
servient to the American laws, and the members of the 
five civilized tribes, will do much toward illustrating the 
extraordinary influence that self-government exerts over a 
proud but conquered race. 

The Choctaws today have an excellent code of laws 
and wise lawmakers, but unfortunately do not always elect 
the wisest men to fill the executive chair. Men of bril- 
liancy and great individuality are rarely popular as can- 
didates for this office. The Choctaws prefer a man whom 
they can rule to one who can rule them, and they usually 
attain their desire in this respect. The principal chief 



Indian Territory 



83 



or governor is elected for a term of two years. Next in 
point of prominence come the district chiefs, of which there 
are four, one for each of the following named districts: 

Pushmataha", Hotubbee, Masholatubbee and Apuck- 
shanulbbee. Each of these districts is divided into coun- 
ties presided over by county judges, while there are 



• v - 




OLD STABLES — FORT GIBSON 



sheriffs and other inferior officers, all of whom are elected 
by public ballot. The judicial power of the nation is vested 
in one Supreme Court besides the Circuit and County 
Courts. The Supreme Court is composed of three district 
judges, one of whom is styled chief justice. These courts 
are carried on with the same decree of formality that is ob- 
served in the United States. The legal code, which is kept, 



84 Indian Government 

as meant to be kept, in subjection to the treaty is quite vol- 
uminous, increasing at every council of the legislative body. 

The Legislature meets early in October of each year 
and continues for a period of from five to seven weeks, the 
members of both houses receiving five dollars per day. 
The Senate is composed of four senators from each dis- 
trict, elected for a term of two years, while the members 
of the House of Representatives are elected by the voters 
in each county in ratio of one representative to every one 
thousand citizens. In order to be a member of either of 
these bodies it is necessary to be possessed of Indian blood., 
notwithstanding a treaty provision to the contrary. 

The business of the Legislature is usually transacted 
in the native tongue and interpreted into English. The 
principal chief is armed with a veto which is all-powerful 
unless a majority of two-thirds be used to defeat him. As 
a seat in the Legislature is one of the highest honors that 
can be conferred upon a citizen, the competition during 
election is brisk and exciting. 



CHICKASAWS. 

The government of the Chickasaws in early days very 
much resembled that of the Choctaws, though we have no 
reference to a queen in our information of the Choctaw, 
race. The Chickasaws even after they departed from their 
old homes in Mississippi, with a characteristic patriotism, 
never forgot the old remnant that remained at home. To 
their queen, Puc-car-imla (Hanging Grapes), they after- 
ward donated $50.00 per year for life, and to Tishoningo, 
their head chief, f 100 annuity. To these primitive people 
at that period these sums were quite a bonanza. 

The Chickasaws, instead of being divided into "iksa" 
or clans as was the case with the Choctaws, w T ere known 
by their distinctive home names, the descent being trace; 
able backward through the mother's ancestry. 



Indian Territory 



85 



The last king of the tribe was named Ish-te-ho-to-pah. 
Thev had also a queen, whom I have already referred to; 
but I am ignorant as to the extent of her authority. There 
were also some powerful chiefs who controlled military or- 
ganizations, subject to the order of the king. 




SURPRISED BY THE FOE 



The present government of the Chickasaws is pat- 
terned after that of the Choctaws. The principal execu: 
tire officer, however, is styled "Governor 7 ? instead ©f Prin- 
cipal Chief. This change was wrought at the adoption of 
the constitution of 1856. The nation is divided into four 
counties — Panola, Pickins, Pontotoc and Tishoningo, each 



86 Indian Government 



of which returns three Senators and eight Representatives. 
The Legislature convenes annually at Tishoningo, the cap- 
ital, in September and usually continues for one month, 
Business is principally — or has been — conducted in the 
English language through the aid of an interpreter, but 
the disfranchisement of the white citizens has materially 
changed the aspect of the body legislative which during 
the years prior to this resolution had risen to a higher 
plane than any body of lawmakers in the Indian Territory. 
The House and Senate are now composed of full bloods. 
The judicial powers of the nation are vested in a supreme, 
district and county courts, the same as in the Choctaw 
nation, while the laws relating to criminal and civil of- 
fenses do not materially differ. 

The Governor's cabinet is composed of National Secre- 
tary, National Agent, Treasurer and Attorney-General, 
which appointments (except the latter, which is elected) 
are made by the Governor and ratified by the Senate. 

The Chickasaws have showed great wisdom. Especially 
is this noticeable during the last ten years of their gov- 
ernment, for the recent political entanglements, which 
might have resulted so disastrously to the tribal govern- 
ments had serious party or personal difficulties ensued 
which is an excellent illustration of the supreme wisdom 
and foresight of the Chickasaws. Their refusal to risk 
the loss of their country to gratify feelings of revenge is 
commendable in the highest degree. 

The Chickasaws may justly lay claim to being a most 
law-abiding people. Notwithstanding their proximity to 
Texas, there is little or no whiskey introduced to their 
capital during the Legislature — a statement which cannot 
be truthfully uttered when referring to some other legisla- 
tive bodies in the Indian Territory. 



Indian Territory 87 

CHEROKEES 

The constitution adopted by the Cherokees, July 12, 
1838, is based upon that of the United States, and differs 
only from the Muskogees in a few characteristic features. 
The supreme executive power of the nation is vested in the 
principal chief, who is elected by the popular vote for a 
term of four years. An executive council or cabinet com- 
posed of from three to five persons is appointed by the Na- 
tional Council to be at the chiefs disposal whenever their 
services are required. In case of death or removal from 
office, the principal chiefs place is filled by an assistant 
principal chief. The salary of the former is $2,000, and 
of the latter §1,000 per annum. Among other important 
offices are those of Treasurer, Solicitor-General and Audi- 
tor, the two former receiving $1,000 and the latter f 500 per 
annum. 

The judicial powers of the nation are vested in su- 
preme, circuit and district courts. The former is con- 
ducted by three judges, one of whom is appointed by the 
council as chief justice. These functionaries receive a sal- 
ary of $800 per year, and hold their commission for four 
years. 

There are three judicial districts, each electing its own 
judge, whose salary is $600 a year. There is also a dis- 
trict court in each district, and each court is presided over 
by a judge elected by the people for a term of two years at 
a salary of $400 per year. 

There are nine districts as follows: Canadian, Illi- 
nois, Sequoyah, Flint, Delaware, Going Snake, Tahlequah, 
Saline and Coo-nes-coo-wee. Each of these districts 
sends to the National Council from three to five representa- 
tives, in proportion to its population. The annual coum 
cil convenes at Tahlequah in November, and usually con- 
tinues for from thirty days to six weeks. The legislative 
body of the nation is divided into two branches — the Sen- 
ate and the National Council — and the members are elected 



88 Indian Government 

for a term of four years, receiving for their services |3.00 
per day while in attendance. The members are nearly all 
Cherokees by blood, there being but a few exceptions, but 
the majority of these representatives are men of much, 
more than ordinary intelligence, and there are some in the 
body legislative that would do infinite credit to the United 
States Congress. The Cherokee laws, which, as a matter 
of course, are based upon the common code, are sufficiently 
complete for all practical purposes, and are carried out 
with greater precision and punctuality than those of any 
of the other nations. There is more regularity and formal- 
ity in the conduct of national affairs, and less lavish ex- 
penditure of the public funds than is observable among the 
Choctaws and Chickasaws. The higher officers of the na- 
tion are usually filled by men who are not only competent, 
but willing to discharge their duties to the letter. The 
local laws even to the Sabbath observance, are strictly en- 
forced, and, on the whole, the Cherokees are a peaceful and 
law-abiding people. 





82 



Chapter VI. 

SCHOOLS. 

Nature in the past has been the largest school of the 
Indian Territory, and this school is not void of material 
value. For its teachings lie close to the springs of human 
interest. Turn the smallest toddler loose in the field, 
woods or garden, and his every word and act proclaim his 
descent from "the gardener Adam and his wife." 

A little four-year-old stood by her father's side one 
day while the new prairie sod was being spaded up on the 
lawn for early flowers. All at once she remarked, with 
great unction, and gravity, "I like to smell the good old 
earth." Now, to my knowledge, the child had never heard 
a like sentiment expressed. There spake the man primer 
val from the school of nature. 

To the children of the home-seeker or non-citizen life 
on the frontier is a new and an ever varying source of de- 
light; the garden plots they lay out and cultivate, the wild 
pets they capture, and the domestic ones they claim and, 
care for. The wonders of newly-hatched broods of chicks 
and the young ducklings; the little pigs; the wild flowers 
from the first pale violet and anemone to the stately yucca 
— all are pleasant phenomena, wonderful to the children 
and a great education is hidden within them. No anise-seed 
trail nor British fox could awake the enthusiasm felt by 
the young lads on their ponies as they gallop over the 
wild meadows, chasing the jack rabbit. Such nature 
does for the young, but now let us see what man does for, 
himself in the territory toward learning and endowing 
schools for his children. 

Thus far the non-citizen has no free public schools ex- 
cept in the organized municipalities, nor have they any 
schools for whites except those they have established at 
their own expense, and these are all in the towns and vib 

91 



92 



Indian Territory 



lages. The free schools are for the Indians. The white 
man must pay for his with the above noted exceptions. 

Each of the tribes has schools for the primary ancl 
academic education of its children, some of them under the 




\ 



V 



DAUGHTER OF CHIEF POSTER 



tribal supervision, and some under the management of the 
Federal Government. In general, the Indians are bet- 
ter provided for than the whites, though the latter outnum- 
ber the former five to one. For instance the Seminoles 
have a school for boys called "Mekusukey" and another 



Schools 



93 



for girls called "Emahaka," practically its duplicate, that 
would be a credit to the most advanced eastern city. Out 
of this trend toward education and the interest taken in the 
development of the tribes comes the most encouragement 
for the future of the tribal members. Not for this genera- 
tion — it is wedded to its gods — but to the children to be 
brought up under the new individualism will the benefits 
come in a large measure. 




SCARBROVGH INSTITUTE 
Ada, Indiau Territory 

The teachers of the Indian schools are competent and 
efficient, many of them being graduates of the best insti- 
tutions. There is a supervisor of schools for each nation, 
the entire system being under a superintendent of schools 
vested with authority by the Interior Department. 

For whites, these are what are known as neighborhood 
schools which have been established by private donations 
and subscriptions. 

The incorporated towns have as good schools as can 
be found anywhere, and it is only a question of a short time 



94 Indian Territory 

when the country at large will have schools equally as 
good. At the present time the number of school children 
between the ages of six and eighteen in the Indian Terri- 
tory is 75,340; Indians, 16,090; negroes, 4,650, and whites, 
54,600. 

Also, the churches have a great influence in the educa- 
tion of a country, and while there has never been any sta- 
tistics compiled, every denomination is represented and 
many good churches are to be found in all the towns and 
more sparsely settled territory. 

The Indian Territory is the young men's country. 
Ninety-five per cent, of the business men and officials in the 
territory today are men still in the first halves of their/ 
lives. Gray-headed men are few and far between, and if 
measured by the number of decrepits this is indeed a coun- 
try of perpetual youth. 

In nearly every walk of life young men are at the helm. 
Bankers, merchants, lawyers, doctors, railroad men, man- 
ufacturers and officials in all the departments are still com- 
paratively young. 

Asked where the old men of the country were, one of 
the young bankers said: "We never had many old men in 
this country; they do not come here." For almost a hun- 
dred years the Indians had full sway here. When oppor- 
tunities opened for whites, the young men and not the old 
ones seized them. About the only old white men in the 
territories are ex-missionaries, ex-Indian agents or ex- 
something, and they are exceedingly scarce. 

Young men are shaping and molding the destiny of 
the great Indian Territory, and in a few more years when 
she is added to the galaxy of states young men will manage 
her state affairs, to the wonderment of all others. 

SCHOOLS OF THE NATIONS. 

The Indian Territory is practically as well supplied 
with higher educational institutions as are the adjoining 



Schools 95 



states. The Indians have a good system of schools both 
in the towns and rural districts, while, until just recently, 
no provision was made whatever for the education of the 
white children in the country districts. 

The government schools are as follows: 

CREEK NATION. 

Seven tribal Indian schools and three colored acad- 
emies, to-wit: 

Attendance. 

Eufaula High School 80 

Wetumka Boarding School 80 

Euchee School 75 

Coweta School 50 

Wealaka School 50 

Nuyaka School 60 

Orphans' School, Okmulgee 75 

They are all Indian schools and boys and girls both 
attend them. The colored academies are located at or 
near Muskogee. 

Attendance. 

Tallahassee School 80 

Pecan School 60 

Colored Orphan's School 40 

Among the white and Indian mixed colleges in the 
Creek nation are: 

Henry Kendall, Presbyterian College Muskogee 

Spaulding Institution, Methodist College. .Muskogee 

Bacone University, Baptist Seminary Muskogee 

Catholic Seminary Muskogee 

The Creeks have sixty-five rural schools, twenty of 
which are for colored people, 




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a 

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I— i 
&a 

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tf 

O 



98 



Schools 



CHEROKEE NATION. 



The Cherokee nation maintains separate schools for 
boys and girls. No one but Indians are allowed to attend 
its higher educational institutions. The principal colleges 
of that nation are the male and female academies. Both 
are located at Tahlequah. The male academy has 160 pu- 
pils and the female academy about 200. The Cherokee. 
Orphans' Academy is located at Pryor Creek and has 150 




NAZAKETH INSTITUTE 

pupils. The nation also sustains a colored college at 
Tahlequah. Among the denominational colleges for tint 
education of both white and Indians are: 

Attendance. 

The Cherokee Academy, Presbyterian 100 

The Cherokee Baptist Academy 100 

Willie Halsell College, Methodist 160 

Dwight Mission, Presbyterian 80 

Friends' School at Hillside, Quaker 120 

Besides this the Cherokees have fifty common schools, 
twenty of which are colored. 



Indian Territory 99 

CHOCTAW NATION. 

In the Choctaw nation the sexes are kept in separate 
schools. Jones Academy at Dwight is the male academy. 
It has 110 pupils. The boys' Orphans' College is known as 
the Armstrong Academy and is located near Caddo. It 
has 100 pupils. The female academy is located at Tuska- 
homa and has 110 pupils. The TVheelock Academy is the 
orphan school for girls and is near Gawin. It has an at- 
tendance of about 100. There are ten other small board- 
ing schools run as the consolidated rural distrct schools of 
Kansas are run. The Atoka Baptist Academy is now 
changing to the Murrow orphans' home. It has 100 pupils. 
The Durant College is a Presbyterian school and has a 
mixed white and Indian attendance of about twenty. The 
Potean Presbyterian Mission School has sixty pupils. 
There are two other small mission schools. 

The Choctaw nation has no colored schools at all. 
When the Atoka agreement was made the colored school 
question was entirely overlooked and as a result negro chil- 
dren have no educational advantages whatever. They are 
growing up in ignorance. The Catholics have a college at 
Authers. 



CHICKASAW NATION. 

Tribal colleges in the Chickasaw nation separate the, 
males and females. The Bloomfield seminary for girls 
has an attendance of about 100. It is located just across 
the Red river from Denison, Texas. The boys' academy 
is known as Harley Institution, and is located at Tisho- 
mingo. Its attendance is about 100. The Collins Insti- 
tution at Stonewell is also a girls' academy and has fifty 
pupils. It is known as Bock Academy. The Chickasaw 
Orphans' home for both boys and girls is located at Leb- 
anon and has seventy pupils. That nation has eighteen 



100 Schools 



common schools. Among the mixed — white and Indian — 
schools in the Chicksaw country are: 

Hargrove College, Methodist 150 pupils 

St. Joseph's Catholic Academy 100 pupils 

El Meta Band College, Private School 100 pupils 

The Seminole nation maintains tribal academies at 
Wenoka and Enahaka and a few small country schools. No 
mission schools are located in that nation. The Seminole 
nation is only forty-two miles long and fourteen miles wide. 

The Creeks furnish their tribal schools with books, 
tuition and board. The Cherokees supply books and tui- 
tion, but the pupils have to pay board. The Choctaws 
supply books, board, tuition and clothes. The Chickasaws 
furnish books, board and tuition. 

In the Cherokee nation about nine out of ten teachers 
are Indians. In the Creek nation about eight out of ten 
teachers are white. The same ratio holds true in the 
Choctaw and Chickasaw Colleges. The Indian teachers 
average up with the white. They were handicapped at 
first because they had never had any normal training but 
summer normals were established a few years back and 
the Indian teachers have taken greater interest in normal 
work than have the white teachers. 

The different nations stand most of the expense of 
these summer normals. The teachers get their board and 
tuition for $12.00 per month. This is below cost price. 
John D. Benedict is the government superintendent of In- 
dian schools. 

Normal training has been advanced very encouraging- 
ly in the Choctaw schools, but has not as yet been intro- 
duced into the schools of the other nations. Mr. Benedict 
is now introducing agriculture and horticulture, but no 
funds are available for such an institution. 




< 

a 

W 



Chapter VII. 

INDIAN KELIGION. 
MUSKOGEES. 

The only religious ceremony of any importance among 
the Creeks, was the Busk or Green Corn Dance, an annual 
festival similar in purpose to our national Tranksgiving. 
Wherever Indian corn was grown, the ripening of that 
grain constituted an important era in the year. The 
whole band usually assembled to celebrate this festival. 
It was the custom of the time to produce fire by rubbing 
two sticks together and the fire thus produced was sent 
from band to band as a token of friendship. At the place 
of assembly a large fire w T as kept up, and around it was 
gathered the warriors and women, dancing and singing 
songs expressive of their gratitude to the Great Spirit for 
sparing them and their friends throughout the yeai. But 
should famine or pestilence have overtaken them, or many 
of their people have fallen in battle, then their joyous songs 
were intermingled with wailing and mournful sounds. Such 
national calamities were attributed to the crimes of the 
people, and pardon was thereupon invoked. Before the 
feast was commenced the "Black Drink" was handed 
round. This drink was composed of the leaves of a small 
bulb known by them as arsee. It was drunk in large 
quantities, and being a powerful emetic, had the effect of 
cleansing their stomachs so thoroughly, that they were in 
a fair way of being able to do justice to the feast of boiled 
corn, which frequently lasted for days at a time. During 
their festival should a criminal or culprit escape from his 
bonds and make his way into the charmed circle, or into 
the square, during the dance, he was considered as under 
the protection of the Great Spirit, and his pardon was se- 
cured. 

103 



104 



Indian Territory 



But as education progresses among the Indians, su- 
perstition is dying out among them, and faster perhaps 
among the Creeks than most of the other tribes. Scarce- 
ly ten years ago, in the Chickasaw nation, several so-called 
witches were burned (or otherwise put to death), but such 
horrors have not been resorted to for many years in the 











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READY FOR A DANCE 



Creek nation. In early da}^s prophecy was considered a 
very great attribute among this people, and there still re- 
mains one of the old prophets — a full blood named Con- 
chakeholo — in whom the unenlightened have a firm belief. 
By their people he is consulted when members of the fam- 
ily are sick, or on the loss of a horse or other property. Al- 
though Conchakeholo does not pretend to be a physician 
or to personally cure the patient, yet he assumes to know 
the nature of the disorder at once, and directs the sick per- 
son either to a certain physician or to some medium 
through which (or through whom) the cure is to be effected. 
Sometimes 1 the afflicted person will be under the influence 



Indian Religion 105 

of an evil, through the presence of some creature in the 
body. One unfortunate was told by the prophet that a 
grasshopper had leaped down his throat and was sent off 
to the medicine man, who gave him a nauseous black 
draught to swallow, which must have soon set the inquisi- 
tive insect at large. In the case of a lost or stolen horse, 
Conchakeholo would call for an article of wear, a blanket 
or other garment, the property of the owner of the animal, 
and after a close inspection of the same, tells the where- 
abouts of the horse (or guesses at it) and the best method 
for its recovery. As I have before stated, the uneducated 
full blood believes implicity in the foresight of the prophet, 
while the whites and half breeds persist that his prophesies 
prove as often false as true. But the philosophical old 
fellow ignores their opinions and goes ahead with an eye 
to business — his fee — which varies from a quarter to one 
dollar — being placed on the gallery of his home before he 
furnishes the desired information. 

Almost every neighborhood or town used to have its 
medicine man, who not only introduced his magic and mum- 
mery, but makes use of herbs and vegetable compounds in 
his practice of which the latter are said to be very efficaci- 
ous in the cure of malarial diseases. 

But of late years even the full bloods have begun to 
lose faith in the medicine man, especially where he uses his 
magic arts in lieu of pills and powders. 

CHOCTAWS. 

Like other aboriginal races, the Choctaws believed in 
the Great Spirit before the advent of the early mission- 
aries. But instead of obstinately setting their faces 
against the truth, as the majority of the tribes have done, 
their people, with characteristic eagerness for knowledge, 
flocked together to listen to the word of God from the lips 
of Kingsberry, Byington and other disseminators of Chris- 
tian doctrine. While the Choctaws embraced Christianity 



106 



Indian Territory 



with apparent readiness, yet they by no means consid- 
ered themselves under the obligation to forsake their 
ancient rites, customs and superstitions, and it was not un- 
til 1834 or thereabouts, when stringent laws were enacted, 
that they forsook the horrible practice of burning to death 
or otherwise torturing and killing persons accused of witch- 




W. C. T. U. LODGE BUILDING -MUSKOGEE 



craft. This custom, however, has been completely aban- 
doned among the Choctaws for nearly thirty years. 

The medicine man, or conjuring doctor, has also be- 
come unpopular through the enactment of a law passed 
in 1837, forbidding him to receive fees such as horses, hogs, 
guns or cattle, should the patient die under his care. But 
should he succeed in raising the sick he is entitled to any 
remuneration offered him. Education, and the presence 



Indian Religion 107 

of modern medical science, has ruined the demand for the 
conjuring doctor, who is now almost a personage of the 
past. 

CHICKASAWS. 

As a people, however, the Chickasaws are not as 
susceptible to religious training as the Choctaws; but if 
deficient in this respect, they are certainly their equals 
intellectually. The Chickasaw full bloods, however, are 
more superstitious than their neighbors. Witch doctors 
and "Pashofah" dances being still popular to a certain ex- 
tent in some localities. The dance of the "Pashofah," 
which is believed to be a certain cure in many stages of 
disease, is carried on in front of the patient, who is placed 
in a house facing the east, and only accessible to the Medi- 
cine Man, who performs his craft in secret. Meanwhile 
the guests dance with great energy, a young woman of the 
tribe juggling a few pebbles in a pair of terrapin shells sus- 
pended from one of her limbs. A huge pot of meat and 
corn boiled together is then served by means of a large 
wooden ladle, which is passed around until everybody is 
satisfied. They believe that each visitor in this way car- 
ries away a portion of the disease. During the ceremony 
the greatest importance is attached to the most trifling 
circumstances. The full bloods' faith, however, has con- 
siderably declined within the last decade. Although as 
recent as six years ago, close to Penington, an elderly 
woman suffered a violent death under the charge of witch- 
craft. 

The late Ben Cunnyatubby is said to have killed an old 
Medicine Man twelve years ago. Several of his children 
having died, he sent to the Creek nation for a native doc- 
tor, who on his arrival pronounced the deaths to have re- 
sulted from witchcraft. Becoming furious on hearing 
this, Cunnyatubby immediately swooped down upon the old 
doctor and killed him and his little son. The above is de- 



108 Indian Territory 

rived from the most reliable authority. In ancient days, 
any disastrous occurrence which was difficult to account 
for was at once attributed to witchcraft, and some inno- 
cent, unsuspecting person of either sex became the sufferer. 

CHEROKEES. 



What has been said of the earlier religions of the Mus- 
kogees, Choctaws and Chickasaws in a measure corre- 
sponds with those of the Cherokees. However, such mis- 
sionaries as Worcester, Butler and several others, won 
their confidence before they came to the Indian Territory. 
These missionaries were heroes in the truest sense of the 
word, and their work and hardships among the aborigines 
planted Christianity more firmly in the hearts of the Chero- 
kees and earlier, too, than their Muskogee, Choctaw and 
Chickasaw brothers were taught. 




Chapter VIII. 

SOCIAL LAWS AND CUSTOMS. 
MUSKOGEES. 

One of the ancient laws among the Muskogees, one 
which was adhered to very strictly, was that no member 
of the tribe should marry within his own clan. Every 
child belonged to its mother's clan. It was, therefore, 
customary for the young w T arrior to apply to the uncle or 
maternal relatives of the girl for the necessary consent. 
This being granted, the lover usually killed a deer and 
laid it outside the door of the young woman's wigwam. If 
the present was accepted it was a good indication, but if 
it was suffered to remain untouched, the wooer might then 
consider that his suit w T as a failure. Instead of grieving 
intensely, or destroying himself in a fit of despair, the re- 
jected lover usually sought a mate elsewhere, and in this 
philosophy, at least, the Indian shows a wisdom superior 
to many of his white-faced brethren. 

One of the proofs that might be used in favor of the 
argument that the- American aborigines are of Asiatic 
descent, was the Creek custom of purification among the 
women, who, at regular periods, retired into solitude, using 
only eating and drinking vessels which were retained for 
the occasion. Their retirement during child birth was 
also observed with religious strictness. 

The Creeks did not look upon polygamy with any 
prejudice; on the contrary, it was adopted to a great ex- 
tent by the leading chiefs and warriors, many of the more 
independent possessing three or four wives. Their choice 
in the matter was usually regulated according to their 
finances, and it was considered a grave breach of morals 
for a warrior to marry more wives than he had the means 
to support in a comfortable manner. Many of the war- 



110 



Indian Territory 



riors in those days had an abundance, while not a few of 
the chiefs were comparatively wealthy, possessing as many 




HUNTING THE TRAIL 

as from twenty to sixty slaves, besides large stocks of 
horses and cattle. 

CHOCTAWS. 

The "iksas" or clans, which I mentioned in the chap- 
ter on government, lived apart from each other and never 
married outside their oavu "iksa," it being a serious breach 
of the law and punishable until 1836, when the act was hap- 



Social Laws and Customs 



111 



pily repealed. Of the clans the Hyah-pah-tuk-kolo (twin 
lakes) was predominant, its people being most powerful 
and enlightened in the arts of war and peace. The Royal 
House, or the House of Kings, was of the Hyah-pah-tuk- 
kolo. It was called the "Hattak-i-kollatah" (Beloved of 
the people), and no Choctaw, save of the royal blood, was 




THE FULL BLOOD AT HOME 



permitted to sit upon the throne. The extreme in every 
respect of the Hyah-pah-tuk-kolos were the Okalla, Han- 
nah-lays, or Six Towns, who were of a lower caste, a peo- 
ple without the ambition or education which marked the 
royal "iksa." Of them it is avowed that they often made 
use of carrion or the carcasses of dead fish and animals. 
This was of course in an early day, before religion and edu- 
cation had 1 placed them on a footing with the other clans. 
In the year of 1820 a small body of their people who dwelt 
on the banks of Hyah-wah-nah, or Winding Waters, arose 



112 Indian Territory 

in arms and assassinated a white trader. Their brethren, 
who had been always friendly to the whites, were so en- 
raged at this act that they proceeded to pnnish the lawless 
Hyah-wah-nahs. But the latter, fearing the result of their 
crime, left the country en masse and went to Louisiana; 
afterward wandering from place to place in Texas and 
New Mexico until 1840, when they stole a march in the 
Choctaw nation, settling on the borders of what is now 
called "Hyah-wah-nah Prairie," twelve miles northeast of 
Atoka. For some cause or other they did not long remain 
in possession of their beautiful location, one which was ad- 
mirably adapted for an aboriginal settlement, the hills and 
mountains being full of game, and the waters of the moun- 
tain creek well stocked with fish. It is believed by some 
that they were driven from the country by their brethren 
and compose that little band now residing in Southeastern 
Texas. The ruins of their houses, which were built chiefly 
of rock, may be seen at the present day on the border of 
the creek which bears their name. 

Regarding the Indian people it is worthy of observa- 
tion that the full bloods never erect their dwellings beside 
a public highway, nor within proximity to each other, but 
rather seek an isolated spot at the foot of some hill and 
close to water. Here they cultivate a small patch of corn 
and raise their hogs, upon which food they chiefly subsist. 
I refer now to only a small minority or unenlightened por- 
tion of the population, for the vast majority of the Choc- 
taws as well as the other civilized tribes of the territory 
are equal in point of intelligence, more independent and 
better housed and fed than the peasantry of the European 
countries. 

Of the educated citizens of the Choctaw nation, it can 
be truthfully said that in proportion to the opportunities 
they have received in the same ratio they are equal to the 
Anglo-American race, intellectually, morally and often 
financially — for many of them exhibit strong traits of ac- 



Social Laws and Customs 113 

quisitiveness and economy. Physically, however, the Choc- 
taws are far inferior to their pale brethren, and quite a 
number are passing away every year from the ravages of 
pulmonary diseases, which are very common, especially 
among the half breeds. The prevalence of consumption 
may be accounted for by the ancient custom of intermar- 
riage with their own kindred or clan. 

CHICKASAWS. 

The Chickasaws have not, like the Choctaws, adopted 
the negro freedmen owned by them before the war; and in 
this instance it appears that they have demonstrated su- 
perior statesmanship, as the rapidity with which the 
negroes increase in population would place them in con- 
trol of the government before twenty years. These negroes 
are still, however' permitted to cultivate the public domain 
without hindrance until some practical arrangement is 
made for their removal. 

MARRIAGE: The cost of a license authorizing a 
white man to marry a citizen of this nation is fifty dollars. 
Other provisions must also be complied with, so that there 
is less intermarriage than before and less likelihood of 
adopting useless and impecunious members of society. 

Many of the Chickasaw full bloods are very intelligent, 
being educated beyond the average of the white man raised 
and schooled in the farming communities of the United 
States. 

CHEROKEES. 

In physical appearance their people were a splendid 
race — tall and athletic. Their women especially differed 
from those of any other tribes, being tall, erect and of a 
willowy delicate frame, with features of perfect symmetry 
and complexion of olive. The warriors' heads were shaved, 
except a patch on the back part, which was ornamented 



114 



Social Laws and Customs 



with plumes, while their ears were slit and adorned with 
large pendants and rings. 

The Cherokees enjoyed greater longevity than any 
of the Indian races, owing to the pure air they breathed 




INDIAN BOY IN BASE BALL COSTUME 



and the mountain streams from which they drank for they 
occupied only the most healthful localities. 

Unlike other Indian nations they had no laws against 
adultery^ and both sexes being unrestrained in this partic- 



Indian Territory 115 

ular, marriage was frequently of short duration. They ob- 
served some singular rules in relation to the burial of the 
dead. When a patient was pronounced past recovery, his 
hair was anointed and his face painted, and the graye be- 
ing prepared before hand, he was interred as soon as the 
breath left his body. 

Of all the Indian tribes the Cherokees were the most 
proud and disdainful. Especially was this trait exhibited 
in their early intercourse with the Europeans, the soldiery 
and the lower class of whom they despised most cordially. 
The warriors would not associate themselyes with any- 
body less than the superior officers and generals of the 
English and French armies. The first treaty made by the 
Cherokees was with the British government, and was con- 
summated at Doyer June 30, 1721. 

These are only a few of many of the interesting cus- 
toms which I might relate, but a work of this kind is not 
for that purpose only in a yery general way. 




CKapter IX. 

TAXES. 

The taxes paid in the Indian Territory are devoted to 
citizens' schools. Every non-citizen in the territory has to 
pay an occupation tax. Every enterprise is taxed, all rev- 
enues being for the benefit of the Indian land-owner. The, 
taxes vary in each nation, the lack of uniformity being due 
to tribal legislative differences. It is the intention to 
have a common basis after present commissions complete 
their work. A few instances of the requirements I quote: 

In the Choctaw nation merchants are assessed one and 
one-half per cent, of the value of the goods introduced for 
sale. In the Chickasaw nation, one per cent, of the capi- 
tal employed. Citizens have to pay $5.00 for every farmer 
or renter employed, and $2.50 for every hired hand. There 
is no cattle tax in the Choctaw nation, but no cattle can be 
brought in except during November and December, and 
then only to be kept within feed pens and legal inclosures. 
In the Chickasaw nation non-citizens pay $1.00 residence 
tax; five cents per head on sheep and goats, and twenty-five 
cents per head on other stock. A royalty of eight cents 
per ton is charged on coal, sixty cents per ton on refined 
and ten cents per ton on crude asphalt. 

Cherokee citizen merchants are taxed one-quarter of 
one per cent, of the first cost of all merchandise. They 
are also taxed fifty cents per head on all cattle introduced 
or purchased from non-citizens who have introduced them 
into the nation, and twenty-five cents per head per annum 
grazing tax. Peddlers are taxed fiA^e per cent, of the amount 
of goods sold. Non-citizen traders in Canadian districts 
are not required to pay tax. Prairie hay cut for sale or 
shipment twenty cents per ton. 

In the Creek nation merchants pay one per cent, of first 
cost of goods or merchandise offered for sale; physicians 

117 



118 Indian Territory 

and lawyers $25 per annum; other professional men and 
tradesmen are taxed amounts varying from $6.00 to 
$250.00 per annum. No tax on hay or cattle introduced. 

Each nation requires non-citizens located or residing 
within its limits to pay an occupation tax. The various 
nations manage their own affairs through their officers and 
legislatures, whose acts are first approved by the President 
of the United States before becoming effective. In three of 
the nations the highest officer is called chief, in the others, 
Governor. 

Under authority of the Curtis act, the Secretary of the 
Interior can lease oil, coal, asphalt and other mineral lands 
in the territory for a term of fifteen years. The rental of 
each lease is fixed at $150.00 per annum for the first and 
second years, $200.00 for the third and fourth years, and 
$500.00 per annum for each succeeding year, all rental pay- 
ments to be made annually in advance. All such pay- 
ments are made a payment on the royalty to be paid when 
each property is developed and operated and the produc- 
tion is in excess of the annual payment, which is 15 2-3 
cents per acre. 

Towns and cities in the territory have no power to 
impose or levy any tax against any land in the town or city 
until after patent is issued from the tribe. After deeds are 
issued of course regular taxes can be imposed. Until such 
title is secured, all other property, including all improve- 
ments on town lots' with all occupations and privileges, are 
subject to taxation for municipal purposes, not to exceed 
2 per cent, of the assessed value. 

The laws of the State of Arkansas have recently been 
applied to the territory and the United States Court has 
jurisdiction to enforce them. 



CHapter X. 

ITS TRADE OR WEALTH. 

Because of the incongruous and chaotic conditions of 
the relations between citizens and non-citizens in the In- 
dian Territory, statistics relating to commercial enterprise 
and progress are difficult to obtain. No industry in the 
Indian Territory has the cohesion that in the States pro- 
duces facts and figures relating to its development from 
year to year. In several of the larger towns chambers of 
commerce have been established, but they are mainly as- 
sociations of business men for the purpose of advertising 
the towns and inducing merchants and factories to locate 
in them. There is no banking association that makes a 
record of the banking business. This is, of course, due to 
the fact that the territory has no form of government save 
paternal. The scarcest article in the Indian Territory is 
money, because of the lack of security owing to the exist- 
ing laws, circumstances and conditions. The security 
that commands money in the States is entirely lacking in 
the Indian Territory, except as it applies to mortgages on 
real estate in a certain few towns, or to mortgages on live 
stock. The development of trade and manufacture is 
therefore seriously hampered. 

This greatly retards the development of mines, oil and 
natural gas wells as well as all other industries. Nothing 
can be done until the territory gets some form of state and 
exact government as represented in statehood. 

There are no roads and bridges in the territory sus- 
tained under official supervision, and what little is done 
along, this line comes from the pockets of the non-citizen 
merchant and manufacturer. 

As an example of the rapidity with which conditions 
change, a banker at Muskogee, when asked if he knew how 
manv banks there were in the territory and their aggre- 

119 



120 



Indian Territory 



gate capital and deposits, replied that he had no conception 
of the subject, that it had entirely grown away from him, 
but the same banker said: "I know of no banks that have 
failed' or I would have heard of it." 

In the past two or three months at least a dozen and 
probably more banks have sprung up within a radius of 
fifty miles of Muskogee, most of them having a capital of 
$25,000.00, and as high as $200,000.00, the bank with the 




ONE OF THE MANY COTTON FIELDS 



largest capitalization being the Territorial Bank of Mus- 
kogee, with a capital of $250,000.00. 

How many new ones there are outside the sphere of 
the business of these banks can only be estimated. 

During the season of 1902-3 cotton raisers were paid 
$370,000.00 for their product by the factories of Muskogee 
alone, which, with the sale of oil and meal, brought Mus- 
kogee $500,000.00. Ardmore is another great cotton t^wn, 
with a great cattle trade as well. 

In mentioning the trade of Indian Territory the coal 
should not be forgotten for South McAlester, Coalgate and 



Its Trade or Wealth 121 

many other places send many trains of fine semi-anthra- 
cite coal to the various states for market; also there is a 
great quantity of fine building stone, some of which is being 
marketed in shipping quantities; fine brick, both for build- 
ing and paying is being manufactured in several places, and 
soon the development of the oil industry will send many 
tank cars in all directions, for the Bartlesville district is 
thought to be one of the best fields in the United States, 
and great oil men are seeking that locality and obtaining 
all the holdings they can get. 

The cattle business, of course, is one of the largest 
enterprises of the territory, but others will soon excel it, 
namely, farming and fruit growing. 

The hay business of the Indian Territory is a business 
that is assuming large proportions and is growing rapidly 
each year; and much wealth has been already made 
through the leasing of the grass lands, putting up the hay 
and disposing of it both for home consumption and by ship- 
ping it to northern markets. The hay is of an excellent 
quality and the lands produce well. 

With a stable government and good land titles the 
commercial impetus would be tremendous, and would rank 
the Indian Territory with the most wealthy State of the 
Union. This will soon come and when it does the Indian 
Territory will surpass Oklahoma many times in the produc- 
tion of cereals and in the exporting of minerals, oils, lum- 
ber, etc. 

It would not do to pass a subject of this nature with- 
out giving credit to the vast amount of railroad building 
that has been done within the territory during the last two 
years, for railroads have been built and put into operation 
to such an extent that every one of the nations has from 
one to three roads crossing its fertile lands. The build- 
ing of these has been followed by the building of many new 
towns' all of which are in a flourishing condition, much less 
to mention the many thousand acres of valuable land they 



122 Indian Territory 

have brought within the radius of good markets. Besides 
the millions of wealth within the railroads alone, they have 
been the means of developing millions in the varied lines 
of industry. The principal trunk lines that cross the ter- 
ritory are briefly stated as follows : 

Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway, the pioneer rail- 
road into the territory, runs in a southern direction across 
it, crossing the Cherokee, Creek and Croctaw nations. 

The St. Louis & San Francisco traverses the Cherokee 
nation from northeast to southwest to Sapulpa, where it 
branches, going south into the Creek, Seminole and Chicka- 
saw nations. It also has a line entering the Choctaw na- 
tion at Jenson and passing down through the nation to 
Paris, Texas. 

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe enters south of 
Caney, Kansas, running along the western side of the 
Cherokee nation. 

The St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway 
comes in below Coffeyville, Kansas, passes southerly 
through the Cherokee nation and into the Creek nation and 
goes east into Arkansas. 

The Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gulf Railroad enters the 
east side of the Cherokee nation' passing southerly through 
it into the Choctaw nation, and passes into Arkansas. 

The Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railroad enters the 
Choctaw nation from Arkansas, running westerly across 
this and the Seminole nation into Oklahoma. 

The Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe crosses the Chickasaw 
nation north and south almost through the center of it. 

The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway runs along 
the western boundary of the Chickasaw nation passing en- 
tirely through it. 

The Arkansas & Choctaw Railroad enters the Choctaw 
nation at the southeast corner of the territory and passes 
entirely through the southern portion of the Choctaw and 
Chickasaw nations into Oklahoma Territory. 



Its Trade and Wealth 123 

The Ozark & Cherokee Central Railway enters from 
Fayetteville, Arkansas, and passes westerly through the 
Cherokee and Creek nations, and is extending into Okla- 
homa City. 

The Choctaw, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway runs from 
Hartshorne, Choctaw nation to Ardmore, Chickasaw na- 
tion, and will be extended on west into Oklahoma Ter- 
ritory. 

The Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railway is also extend- 
ing their main line by the construction of a line from Wy- 
bark, Creek nation, up the north valley of the Arkansas 
river to the main line of their new road running from Bar- 
tlesville, Cherokee nation, to Oklahoma City, known as the 
M., K. & O. The same road is also extending their line 
from Coalgate, Choctaw nation, into Oklahoma City. 

The Ft. Smith & Western Railway runs west from Ft. 
Smith, Arkansas, across the Choctaw and Chickasaw 
nations. 

The Muskogee Southern Railway now being con- 
structed from Muskogee in a southern direction crosses 
part of the Creek, Cherokee and Choctaw nations, and con- 
nects with the Kansas City Southern at or near Poteau, 
and will also be built northwest from Muskogee into Okla- 
homa Territory. This will open up a very fertile section 
of the Indian Territory. This road and the O. & C. C. 
Ry. are the results of the efforts, industry and skill of 
local men, who are also engaged in other extensive railroad 
development in the territory. 

There are quite a number of other roads proposed and 
will no doubt be put into operation. 

A very interesting presentation of the wonderful 
wealth of Indian Territory from an agricultural standpoint 
is shown by the recent publication by the government of a 
report showing the actual number of bales of cotton ginned 
in all of the cotton producing sections of the Indian Terri- 



124 



Indian Territory 



tory as compiled by government employes commissioned to 
perform this one work. 

In 1903 the number of bales of cotton ginned in the In- 
dian Territory was as follows: 

Bales. 

Chickasaw Nation : 148,028 

Choctaw Nation 100,381 

Creek Nation 92,947 

Cherokee Nation 65,354 

Seminole Nation 2,871 

Oklahoma's total cotton output was 21S,G90, or 190,901 
bales less than Indian Territory, with everything to the ad- 
vantage of Oklahoma. 





A HERD OF CATTLE 



125 



CHapter XL 

INDUSTRIES. 

In agriculture no country in the world offers more ad- 
vantages than the Indian Territory. There is not a state in 
the Union where so many fruits, cereals and vegetables can 
be grown side by side. 

In the fields one can see corn, cotton, wheat and oats — 
the four chief cereals of America — growing adjacent. In 
fruits everything that is not strictly tropical can be grown 
in the territory. Vegetables of all kinds are profitable 
and can be grown to a certainty. 

With such a diversity of crops the Indian Territory is 
protected from total failure. 

The live stock industry has had a notable increase in 
better grades of cattle being introduced, and better care is 
being taken of the stock. The larger ranches have dimin- 
ished and the smaller stockmen have flourished. Instead 
of having thousands of cattle in one herd and these of the 
long-horned species- there are now from ten to a few hun- 
dred head in a herd, cared for by the general farmer, and 
the cattle are of the Durham, Polled Angus and Hereford, 
breeds. But this country is fast reaching the conditions 
when there will be smaller herds and better quality will 
take the place of quantity. 

Hogs pay especially well. They are largely free from 
contagious diseases which make inroads on them in other 
states, and better breeds are being raised all over the ter- 
ritory. 

All the cities of the territory have had a marked 
growth; but this is not astonishing when the vast possibili- 
ties of agriculture and manufacture are considered. 

To the farmer of the Northern States the Indian Terri- 
tory offers many opportunities not to be had in the older 
settled communities, a most* important one being the in- 

127 



128 Indian Territory 

crease in value of his lands by the development of the 
country. 

Diversity of crops is invaluable to the farmer. He 
does not have to depend upon corn, wheat, oats, cotton or 
any one crop. His year's work pays because he always has 
at least one commodity that is bringing a high market 
price. 

This can be done. All northern men who have visited 
the territory in the past and have been shown the country 
have remarked when in mid-winter they have seen cattle, 
horses and mules feeding on the winter wheat, "What a 
difference there is between stock raising in the territory 
and in the Northern States." No six months feeding up 
all that has been raised the other six months of the year. 
In fact no. feeding is necessary except in the wet season, 
when the stock would damage the wheat, and possibly a 
few weeks in the spring, between the time when stock is 
taken off the wheat and the grass starts. 

Another great advantage the citizen, or rather non- 
citizen, of the Indian Territory has over his agricultural 
brother of the North, is that the winters are short and 
mild, and there are only a few days when it is not possible 
for the farmer to plow his ground. Backward spring sea- 
sons do not keep him from putting in his spring crop when 
the proper time comes. The summers are long, though 
never excessively hot, and the nights are always cool and 
refreshing. Here one good energetic man can do more 
than two men in a severe climate, if he plans his work 
properly. 

As the lands pass into the ownership of white settlers 
the development will be enormous. The Oklahoma wheat 
belt, renowned the world over, extends south to the Chick- 
asaw and Choctaw nations, and east through the Creek, 
Seminole. and Cherokee nations, and an average yield of 
twenty-five bushels per acre is annually harvested. Oats, 
barley, rye, alfalfa, millet, etc., are grown to advantage, 



Industries 129 



and corn is a most certain and productive crop. The cotton 
crop is next to that of Texas, and the staple is grown all 
over the territory, finding a ready market at the highest 
price. The yield from a half a bale on the uplands, to a 
bale and a half in the bottoms, with the enormous acreage, 
makes cotton the most important territory product. Veg- 
etables and fruits grow abundantly and are an ever in- 
creasing source of revenue. Strawberries, blackberries 
and other small fruit, potatoes, yams, navy beans and xill 
garden products are cultivated for northern markets. The 
diversity of crops is a great advantage, obviating as it does 
the necessity of dependence on one or two staples, and 
prices are better in nearly all cases than in the neighboring 
states. Prairie grass is still abundant, making excellent 
pasturage for the many herds of cattle for which the In- 
dian Territory has long been famous. 

Stock raising is as profitable as agriculture, and the 
close proxmity to Kansas City, St. Louis and Chicago mar- 
kets offers splendid inducements. Great herds of Texas 
cattle are annually shipped or driven in, owing to the fine 
pasturage, and after having been fattened are shipped to 
the market. Pasturage is now leased from year to year. 
The increasing growth and expansion of the territory will 
eventually change the system, and in time as it has already 
begun there will be fewer large herds of cattle, but as 
every farmer will own a feAV head it will make a greater 
number of cattle in the aggregate. 



In timber there are approximately a million acres, 
mostly in the hilly districts of the Choctaw nation. 

The universal wealth of the territory is an unknown 
quantity. Bituminous coal is found in the Choctaw, Chick- 
asaw and Creek nations, and the mines are worked under 
leases, a royalty on the coal mined being paid the United 
States government for the benefit of the Indian. The veins 
of coal range from four to 1iYe feet in thickness and the 
quality is excellent, and it is said to be the best gas and 



130 



Indian Territory 



coke coal west of Pittsburg. The supply is practically 
inexhaustible. Oil and asphalt await development; par- 
ticularly is this true in many localities, but the wells are 
capped because of the inability to obtain titles to the lands 
from the Indians. When deeds can be given oil will be 
one of the foremost products. The immense coal fields in 




A COTTON G1N-ARDMORE 



the Turkey Creek, Wilburton, Krebs, South McAlester and 
Coalgate districts are being rapidly developed and large 
shipments of coal are annually made from these points to 
Texas and Mexico and the East and North. It is a very 
interesting sight to travel through this section of the ter- 
ritory, and see the miles and miles of siding filled with cars 
loaded with the shining black wealth awaiting transporta- 
tion southward, eastward and northward. Good iron and 



Industrie 



131 



zinc will undoubtedly be found in paying quantities when 
the fields are developed. A plenteous supply of good 
building stone, limestone and granite, and especially mar- 
ble, susceptible of a high polish is found throughout the 
territory, and especially at Marble City, Cherokee nation. 




A COWBOY OF THE TERRITORY 



It is also a great pecan country and many people follow 
gathering and marketing them for an occupation. 

It must be remembered that in the early settlement of 
any country, and more particularly has this been true in 
the territory, the farming population were compelled to 
look after necessities of life, subdue the native soil and 
plant crops that would insure an income with the least 
possible delay; so the matter of orchard planting was, to 
a great extent, confined to small areas and a few of the 



132 Indian Territory 

standard apples and peaches. Consequently the pear, 
cherry, apricot, etc., were left to the last and but few pear 
trees are yet in good bearing. However, there has been 
enough of them marketed to become noted, not only for 
their size, but for their color and flavor as well, the re- 
quisites so eagerly sought for by fruit growers. Peaches 
grow very large and do well, but they do not rank as high 
as do the apple and the grape. It is a difficult task to 
convince some people that apples of the same variety which 
grow in different localities are widely different in point 
of flavor and general character, yet no more distinct evi- 
dences of this exist than is found in the Ben Davis grown 
in the Indian Territory, as compared with all other sec- 
tions of the apple producing region; their fine flavor and 
rich, juicy qualities baffle the judgment of some of the best 
connoisseurs. Such is true with many other standard sorts. 
The orchards are not very many, and are all young, so of 
course do not supply the local demand. Most of the ap- 
ple trees that have been planted are in the hands of in- 
experienced fruit growers, and are neglected to a great ex- 
tent. No better opportunity exists for skilled orchardists 
than is presented in the Indian Territory, as that is, per- 
haps, the extreme south limit of the apple belt, and in the 
very cream of a market. When given the proper care, the 
trees are rank and thrifty, the crop is excellent for young- 
trees, the quality very fine and markets good. 

Central and Southern Indian Territory is the ideal 
home of the grape; all varieties of the American grape 
grow perfectly, and produce annual crops of from two to 
three tons of choice fruit per acre. The grape demands an 
open, porous, sandy, well-drained soil. The rolling prairies 
and rich creek slopes all over the territory produce these 
requirements. 

Plums are a true native of the Indian Territory. Large 
quantities of them grow wild along the streams, and many 
specimens as large as the well known "wild goose" are to 



Industries 



133 



be found. Nearly all the Japanese varieties yield heavy 
crops annually, and the surplus in some instances has to be 
shaken off in order to prevent the limbs from breaking 
down with their load of fruit. Cherries are giving excel- 
lent results for the age of the trees. 

Eegarding the smaller fruits, strawberries pay very 
well indeed. I have reason to know of one instance where 




A FRUIT FARM 



a patch yielded enough berries to net the grower $350 
per acre. 

Blackberries of the Early Harvest variety do excep- 
tionally well; are very hardy but too tender for farther 
north. They never fail to produce fine crops, the surplus 
of which can be shipped to northern markets before north- 
ern berries begin to color. 

In fact the Indiana Territory is so situated with re- 
spect to climate, altitude and geological formation that a 
suitable location can be found for the successful growth 
of almost all the hardy and half-hardy fruits. The fruit 



134 



Indian Territory 



interests of the territory are not carefully guarded or di- 
rected by any one, but this will come in time. 

The climate and soil are perfect, the production un- 
equaled, the market and transportation facilities unsur- 
passed. 





HOMESEEKERS CAMPING 



135 



Chapter XII. 

ITS FUTURE. 

In speaking of the territory's future, let me give you 
the history of a few of her towns, and by showing the great 
strides they have made in the last two years, I will allow 
you to draw and make your own future for Indian Terri- 
tory, for I feel assured that with the brief knowledge I 
have given you in this book, with the actual facts which I 
shall relate in this chapter, that you can well set or ascribe 
for yourself the greatness of a great country and one 
which the Indian Territory can not help but make. 

The rapid development of Indian .Territory is more 
noticeable in the cities and towns than in the country dis- 
tricts. This is. due to the fact that titles can be given to 
city property, with exception as noted in the early part of 
this book. Just as soon as the various tribes can dispose 
of their farm property there will be a land boom in the ter- 
ritory that will discount the land boom of Kansas in the 
eighties. People from every part of the United States are 
getting the Indian Territory fever, and the only thing that 
is holding the great bulk of them back is the fact that they 
cannot buy farm property yet to any great extent. As it 
is they are coming in by the hundreds and locating in the 
new towns. Nearly every old town in the territory has 
doubled its population during the past two years, and new 
towns by the score have sprung up as if by magic. 

Editor Lamb of Okmulgee illustrated the rapid prog- 
ress of the different towns in an address before the Terri- 
torial Press Association in Muskogee a short time ago. 
"Early in the week," said he, "I would pick up a South 
McAlester, Ardmore or Muskogee paper, or a paper from 
most any old place, and read some pipe dream about a new 
railroad, new hotel, new factory, or some other new en- 
terprise. At that time there would K ^ oKc ^ T utery nothing 

137 



138 Indian Territory 

to base the story on. It would be a hot air story pure and 
simple. I would decide then and there to denounce 
the story as a fake. By the time my paper went to press 
the pipe dream had come true. All you have to do in this 
country is to write up a pipe dream of some vast enter- 
prise to be established, in your town, and it comes before 
the paper in a rival town has a chance to deny it."* 

Muskogee has doubled its population and wealth in the 
past two years. More than 100 residences are now under 
construction. Several big business houses are also being 
built. A water works system will be ready for use in a 
month. The Missouri, Kansas & Texas and the Ozark 
and Cherokee Central are extending their yards- and the 
Muskogee Southern is building out of Muskogee, with the 
Missouri Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads seeking entrance. 
Town lots have advanced 100 per cent, in the past. year. 
Muskogee has more fine residences than any other town in 
the territory. Three or four companies are at present trying 
to secure a franchise for a street railway system. 

South McAlester is known as the Pittsburg of the 
Southwest, on account of its coal fields. The coal mines of 
that vicinity produce 3,000,000 tons of coal annually and 
the monthly pay roll of the mines aggregates $200,000.00. 
South McAlester has gained TO per cent, in population in 
two years. Over 40,000 people live within easy reach of 
the business houses. An electric line is being built to 
connect the city with all the coal towns in that immedi- 
ate vicinity. It will be eighteen miles long and will cost 
f 150,000 when completed. A $151,600 water works plant 
is now building and will be completed by September 1st. 
Contracts have been awarded for the paving of the busi- 
ness streets. Three solid business blocks of stone and 
pressed brick are under construction. Sixty residences 
are now being built. Work has commenced on a $35,000 
Catholic hospital, and a new $100,000 Baptist college has 
just been located. A $75,000 gas plant and a $35,000 ice 



Its Future 



141 



plant are about ready for operation. Architects are now 
drawing up plans for a five-story hotel with 100 rooms. A 
$45,000 Union depot and dining hall are to be completed by 
September 1st. 

Chickasha, "the Queen city of the Washita," now has 
8,000 population. It has gained 5,000 in three years. It is 
a great Rock Island railroad center. That road has lo- 
cated shops there, giving employment to 500 men. Its 
round house has a capacity of thirty-five engines. Six 
passenger and freight divisions of the road center there. 




MONEY IN RAISING WHEAT 



Congress has granted the Rock Isla'nd forty acres of ground 
near the town on which to build shops for the entire south- 
west system. Chickaha has twenty-two wholesale houses, 
and twelve manufacturing enterprises employing 125 trav- 
eling salesmen. All of the Kansas City packers have dis- 
tributing depots there. Among its industries is an eight- 
hundred-barrel flour mill, a mattress factory, a cotton com- 
press which handled eighty thousand bales of cotton last 
season, and the largest cotton oil mill in the territory. It 
has just completed six public school buildings. Xext 
month the people of Chickasha will vote on the proposition 
to issue $135,000 in bonds to build water works, a sewer- 
age system and pave the streets. The business streets 



142 Indian Territory 

are to be paved with brick this summer, and the cost is to 
be taxed to abutting property. 

Ada is a town of three years of age. It has 3,500 peo- 
ple' three national banks, a $250,000 trust company, a 
$75,000 oil mill, an ice plant, an electric plant, four cotton 
gins, a new high school building, aside from day schools, 
forty-four stone business houses, seven new stone business 
houses now building and a $50,000 wholesale house. Since 
last January 150 residences have been built. Nineteen 
thousand bales of cotton were handled there last winter. 
A proposition is now pending to vote bonds for the con- 
struction of a water worlds plant. 

Okmulgee is growing like a "weed," It is turning its 
attention now to the bridging of streams and improving of 
country roads. A bridge will be built at once across the 
Deep Pork, opening up a vast agricultural empire to the 
town. Among the large concerns now located there is a 
trust company with $500,000 capital; a big fifty-room hotel 
made of stone and pressed brick will go up this summer. 
A forty-thousand-dollar ice plant is now nearing comple- 
tion, and also a big cotton gin. There is now in the course 
of erection not less than fifty residences and a dozen busi- 
ness blocks. The Ozark & Cherokee Central is being built 
southwest from there, and the Shawnee and Oklahoma City 
connection will be built this summer. The electric plant 
will be completed within a short time. 

Checotah has just voted $10,000 in bonds to build a 
new school building. A $15,000 Odd Fellows Orphans' 
Home was recently dedicated there. The Checotah Land 
and Development Company, with $250,000 capital has just 
been organized. More than 80,000 acres of good tillable 
land is in cultivation this 3^ear within a radius of fifteen 
miles of the town. A new $10,000 cotton gin is now un- 
der construction, making the fifth enterprise of that kind 
in Checotah. A new $80,000 cotton mill is in operation, 
and a $50,000 electric light and ice plant has just been com- 



Its Future 



143 



pleted. A franchise has been granted for a water works 
plant. Local people have organized a fair association and 
acquired fair grounds. The first fair will be given this 
fall. More than f 75,000 was spent in new business build- 
ings last year. A score or more of residences are now 
being built. 




FIRST SUPPER IN THE TERRITORY 



Sapulpa has just voted $25,000 in bonds for a water 
works system and $15,000 for school buildings. The Fris- 
co has put up a new depot, with an eating house in con- 
nection. The railroad has enlarged its round house and 
terminal facilities, and is making this a big division point. 
A pressed brick plant with a daily capacity of 60,000 brick 
has just been completed. An ice plant is under construc- 
tion. An oil well of forty barrels daily capacity has just 
been brought into operation. 

Miami now has a population of 2,700. It has the best 
opera house in the territory. It is surrounded by rich 
agricultural lands and an Illinois company is drilling for 



144 Indian Territory 

gas with indications of success. The town has a fine ar- 
tesian well which will supply a $50,000 water works sys- 
tem now building. A local company has recently been 
organized to run a new railroad west from Miami through 
the coal fields and passing through the towns of Welch, 
Centralia, Nowata and Bartlesville. More business houses 
were built there during the past year than any similar time 
in the town's existence. 

Tulsa is another one of the promising towns and has 
nearly doubled its population in the last twelve months. 
There is more building being done at present than ever 
before in the history of Tulsa. 

Tahlequah, often styled the home of pretty girls and 
sparkling waters, because of its many pretty school girls 
and bubbling springs. Tahlequah is the capital of the 
Cherokee nation, and is noted for its culture and refine- 
ment. It is a very desirable place to live and many new- 
comers are locating permanently in this town. 

Caddo is already a town of 1,600 population and has 
two banks, one of $50,000 capital, and the other with 
$100,000. It is the center of a rich agricultural country 
and is noted for its pure mineral springs. An electric 
light plant has been built and a water works plant is in 
course of construction. The town has a good school sys- 
tem. Many business houses and residences are building. 
What the people of the territory now want are people to 
till the soil. They will come in when deeds can be ob- 
tained. Farm lands can only be leased now. The story 
of these few towns is the story of all others in the ter- 
ritory. 

There was recently a convention of the leading Indians 
from the various tribes held at Eufaula for the purpose of 
adopting a plan and look into tke matter of future state- 
hood. This shows there is a strong sentiment among the 
Indians for certain and specific government. This is a 
good thing, for it shows that the Indians are ready and 



Its Future 145 



willing to take the initiative part in the framing of the 
constitution for the commonwealth. 

It is true that when Indian Territory comes in as a 
state the major portion of the soil will be in possession of 
Indian citizens. But the new state will be a government 
of the people, for the people — not a government for the 
land holders. At the present time, according to the most 
accurate figures that can be had, the Indian population of 
Indian Territory is 12 per cent, of the total population. If 
this then is a government of the people and for the people, 
it will be a white man's government and white men will 
make the constitution for the new state and enact its fu- 
ture laws. It is true that some of the brighter and more 
educated Indians will take part in this work, but the white 
men will control and guide it. The Indians have been 
demonstrating, since 1833, their inability to establish and 
maintain a stable and equitable government that will meet 
the conditions of a progressive race or keep pace with one. 
The Indian will drop the reigns of government with the 
dissolution of his tribal customs and laws March 4, 1906. 

Now, patient readers, I have given you the facts as 
they really are and as for what the territory's future will 
be, I will leave wholly to your judgment. 




WHEAT FIELD IN THE TERRITORY 



146 



Chapter XIII. 

TOWNS. 

The territory has no cities, but has a large number of 
healthy, growing, thrifty towns, which will make the cities 
of the future, and that future is close at hand. There is 
no such opportunity anywhere in the United States for 
honest and legitimate growth and development of both 
towns and country as there is in the Indian Territory. 
Other sections may have booms- and wild and crazy condi- 
tions. None such exist in the territory, and they are not 
wanted. The territory wants rapid, honest, substantial 
development and nothing can prevent its coming. 

I give the population of some of the principal towns as 
given by the census report of 1900: 

Town. Nation. Populatkm. 

Ardmore Chickasaw 5,681 

Muskogee Creek , 4,254 

South McAlester, Choctaw 3,479 

Chickasha Chickasaw 3,209 

Wilburton Choctaw 3, 000 

Durant Choctaw 2,969 

Coalgate Choctaw 2,614 

Wagoper Creek 2,372 

Hartshorne Choctaw. 2,352 

Vinita Cherokee 2,339 

Krebs Choctaw 2,300 

Purcell Chickasaw 2,020 

Wynnewood Chickasaw 1,907 

Miami Ottawa (Quapaw Agency) 1,527 

Roff Chichasaw 1,500 

Lehigh Choctaw 1,500 

Tahlequah Cherokee. 1,482 

Paul's Valley Chickasaw 1,467 

Tulsa Creek 1,390 

Davis - Chickasaw ^346 

148 



Towns. 149 



Town. Nation. Population. 

Sulpher Chickasaw 1, 198 

Duncan .Chickasaw 1,164 

Atoka , Choctaw 1,150 

Marlow Chickasaw 1,016 

Antlers Choctaw J, 000 

Ocomulgee. . Creek ... 1,000 

Ryan. ...... ; Chickasaw. 1,000 

Sallisaw.. Cherokee .... . ." 965 

Caddo........... Choctaw 930 

Sapulpa '.'.....'.. ....Creek :.:............. 891 

Claremore.. Cherokee ...i..... 855 

Marietta ..... .Chickasaw 842 

Checotah Creek . .. . 805 

Alderson Choctaw 800 

Stilwell Cherokee 779 

Eufaula ....... Creek. 757 

Holdenville. . .Creek 749 

Talihina .'. Choctaw 748 

Okland ». Chickasaw 701 

Bartletsville , . .Cherokee 698 

McAlister. Choctaw. 646 

Briston. ; Creek 626 

Howe Choctaw . . . . . 626 

Ft. Gibson. Cherokee. . . 617 

Sterrett Choctaw.' 575 

Afton ..Cherokee. 606 

Chelsea. Cherokee. , : 666 

Comanche. Chickasaw 547 

Spiso . Choctaw. . ........ .^ 543 

Canadian Choctaw 522 

Rush Springs .Chickasaw 518 

Buck , Choctaw 510 

Center Chickasaw 500 

^airland Cherokee 499 

Nowata. Cherokee 598 

Pryor Creek Cherokee 595 

Muldrow Cherokee 465 

Dougherty. . Chickasaw. 437 

Mi nco .Chickasaw 400 

rhomasville . . Choctaw 400 



Chapter XIV. 

THE COMMISSION TO THE FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES. 

By act of Congress of March 3, 1893, the Commission to 
the five civilized tribes came into existence. It is at this 
time composed of Hon. Henry L. Dawes, of Massachusetts, 
Chairman; Hon. Tarns Bixby, of Minnesota, Acting Chair- 
man, and Hon. Thomas B. Needles, of Illinois, and Hon. 
Clifton R. Breckinridge, of Arkansas, Commissioners, with 
Allison L. Aylesworth, of Minnesota, as Secretary. The 
offices of the Commission are located at Muskogee, with 
local offices at such other points as seem necessary for the 
expedition of the work under their charge. A large cleri- 
cal force is employed to compile and record the mass of 
detail information that must be procured in order to attain 
the object for which the Commission was created. 

We quote the following from the seventh annual re- 
port (the last one) of the Commission: 

"The Commission to the five civilized tribes was cre- 
ated by act of Congress March 3, 1893, with instructions to 
enter into negotiations with the several nations of Indians 
in Indian Territory for the allotment of land in severalty 
or to procure the cession to the United States of lands 
belonging to the five tribes at such price and terms as 
might be agreed upon, it being the expressed determination 
of Congress to bring about such changes as would enable 
the ultimate creation of a territory of the United States, 
with a view to the admission of the same as a State of the 
Union. 

"Had it been possible to secure from the five tribes a 
cession to the United States of the entire territory at a 
given price, the tribes to receive its equivalent in value, 
preferably a stipulated amount of the land thus ceded, 
equalizing values with cash, the duties of the Commission 
would have been immeasurably simplified, and the govern- 

150 



Indian Territory 151 

ment would have been saved incalculable expense. One has 
but to contemplate the mineral resources, developed and 
undeveloped, and existing legislation with reference there- 
to, to realize the advantages which await such a course. 
When an understanding is had, however, of the great dif- 
ficulties which have been experienced in inducing the tribes 
to accept allotment no one would suspect that it existed. 
In fact it is so little that it does not "count" except for the 
purpose of citizenship, and by means of acquiring allot- 
ment rights. Some of the brightest and shrewdest busi- 
ness and professional men in the territory are "Indians" in 
this sense but in no other sense." 



?f?f 



^\Z7^- 



Chapter XV. 

TREATIES AND U. S. LAWS PERTAINING TO THE FIVE 
CIVILIZED TRIBES. 

THE CREEK TREATY. 

An Act to ratify and Confirm an agreement with the 
Muskogee or Creek tribe of Indians, and for other purposes: 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- 
bled, That the agreement negotiated between the Commis- 
sion to the five civilized tribes and the Muskogee or Creek 
tribe of Indians at the City of Washington on the eighth 
day of March, nineteen hundred, as herein amended, is 
hereby accepted, ratified and confirmed, and the same shall 
be of full force and effect when ratified by the Creek nation- 
al council. The principal chief, as soon as practical after 
the ratifications of this agreement by Congress, shall call an 
extra session of the Creek national council and lay before 
it this agreement and the act of Congress ratifying it, and 
if the agreement be ratified by said council, as provided in 
the constitution of said nation, he shall transmit to the 
President of the United States the act of council ratify- 
ing the agreement, and the President of the United States 
shall thereupon issue his proclamation declaring the same 
duly ratified, and that all the provisions of this agreement 
have become law according to the terms thereof: Pro- 
vided, That such ratification by the Creek national council 
shall be made within ninety days from the approval of this 
act by the President of the United States. 

This agreement by and between the United States, en- 
tered into in its behalf by the Commission to the five civ- 
ilized tribes, Henry L. Dawes, Tarns Bixby, Archibald S. 
McKennon and Thomas B. Needles, duly apointed and 
authorized thereunto, and the Muskogee (or Creek) tribe of 

152 



Indian Territory 153 

Indians, in Indian Territory, entered into in behalf of said 
tribe by Pleasant Portor, Principal Chief, and George A. 
Alexander, David M. Hodge, Isparhecher, Albert P. Mc- 
Kennop and Cub Mcintosh, delegates, duly appointed and 
authorized thereto. 

Witnesseth that in consideration of the mutual under- 
standings hereto contained it is agreed as follows: 

DEFINITIONS. 

1. The words "Creek" and "Muskogee," as used in 
this agreement, shall be deemed synonymous, and the 
words "Creek Nation" and Muskogee tribe of Indians in 
Indian Territory. The words "Principal Chief" shall be 
deemed to refer to the Principal Chief of the Muskogee na- 
tion. The words "Citizen" or "Citizens" shall be deemed 
to refer to a member or members of the Muskogee tribe 
or nation of Indians. The words "The Dawes Commis- 
sion" or "Commission" shall be deemed to refer to the 
United States Commission to the five civilized tribes. 

GENERAL ALLOTMENT OF LANDS. 

\2. All lands belonging to the Creek tribe of Indians 
in the Indian Territory, except town sites and lands herein 
reserved for Creek schools and public buildings, shall be 
appraised to their true value. The appraisement shall be 
made under the direction of the Dawes Commission by such 
member or committees, with necessary assistance, as may 
be deemed necessary to expedite the work, one member of 
each committee to be apointed by th Principal Chief; and if 
the members of any committee fail to agree as to the value 
of any tract of land, the value thereof shall be fixed by said 
Commission, Each committee shall make report of its 
work to said Commission, which shall, from time to time, 
prepare reports of same, in duplicate, and transmit them 
to the Secretary of the Interior for his approval, and when 



154 Treaties and Laws 

approved one copy thereof shall be returned to the office 
of said Commission for its use in making allotments as 
herein provided. 

3. All lands of said tribe, except as herein provided, 
shall be allotted among the citizens of the tribe by said 
Commission so as to give each an equal share of the whole 
in value, as nearly as may be, in manner following: There 
shall be allotted to each citizen one hundred and sixty 
acres of land — boundaries to conform to the government 
survey — which may be selected by him so as to include im- 
provements which belong to him. One hundred and sixty 
acres of land, valued at six dollars and fifty cents per acre, 
shall constitute the standard value of an allotment, and 
shall be measured for the equalization of values; and any 
allottee receiving lands of less than such standard value- 
are sufficient to make his allotment equal in value to the 
standard so fixed. 

If any citizen select lands the appraised value of 
which, for any reason is in excess of such standard value, 
the excess of value shall be charged against him in the fu- 
ture distribution of the funds of the tribe rising from all 
sources whatsoever, and he shall not receive any further 
distribution of property or funds of the tribe until all other 
citizens have received lands and money equal in value to 
his allotment. If any citizen selects lands the appraised 
value of which is in excess of such standard value, he may 
pay the overplus in money, but if he fail to do so, the same 
shall be charged against him in the future distribution of 
the funds of the tribe arising from all sources whatsoever, 
and he shall not receive any further distribution of prop- 
erty or funds until all other citizens shall have received 
lands and funds equal in value to his allotment, and if there 
be not sufficient funds of the tribe to make the allotments 
of all other citizens of the tribe equal in value to his then 
the surplus shall be a lien upon the rents and profits of his 
allotment until paid. 



Indian Territory 155 



4. Allotment of any minor may be selected by his 
father, mother or guardian, in the order named, and shall 
not be sold during his minority. All guardians or cura- 
tors appointed for minors and incompetents shall be 
citizens. 

Allotments may be selected for prisoners, convicts, 
aged and infirm persons by their duly appointed agents, 
and for incompetents by guardians, curators or suitable 
persons akin to them, but it shall be the duty of said Com- 
mission to see that such selections are made for the best in- 
terests of such parties. 

5. If any citizen have in possession in actual cultiva- 
tion, lands in excess of what he and his wife and minor chil- 
dred are entitled to take, he shall, within ninety days after 
the ratification of this agreement, select therefrom allot- 
ments for himself and family aforesaid, and if he have law- 
fully improvements upon such excess he may dispose of the 
same to any other citizen, who may thereon select lands so 
as to include such improvements; but, after the expiration 
of ninety days from the ratification of this agreement, any 
citizen may take any lands not already selected by another, 
but if lands so taken be in actual cultivation, having there- 
on improvements belonging to another citizen, such im- 
provements shall be valued by the appraisement commit- 
tee, and the amount paid to the owner thereof by the al- 
lottee, and the same shall be a lien upon the rents and 
profits of the land until paid: Provided, That the owner 
of improvements may remove the same if he desires. 

6. All allotments made to Creek citizens by said 
Commission prior to the ratification of this agreement, as 
to which there is no contest, and which do not include pub- 
lic property, and are not herein otherwise affected, are con- 
firmed, and the same shall, as to appraisement and all 
things else be governed by the provisions of this agree- 
ment and said Commission shall continue the work of allot- 
ment of Creek lands to citizens of the tribe as heretofore, 
conforming to provisions herein; and all controversies aris- 



156 Treaties and Laws 

ing between citizens as to their rights to select certain 
tracts of land shall be determined by the Commission. 

7. Lands allotted to citizens hereunder shall not in 
any manner whatsoever, or at any time, be incumbered, 
taken, or sold to secure or satisfy any debt or obligation 
contracted or incurred prior to the date of the deed to the 
allottee therefor, and such lands shall not be alienable by 
the allottee or his heirs at any time before the expiration 
of five years from the ratification of this agreement, except 
with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. 

Each citizen shall select from his allotment forty 
acres of land as a homestead, which shall be non-taxable 
and inalienable and free from any incumbrance whatever 
for twenty-one years, for which he shall have a separate 
deed, conditioned as above : Provided, That selections of 
homesteads for minors, prisoners, convicts, incompetents 
and aged and infirm persons, who cannot select for them- 
selves, may be made in the manner herein provided for the 
selection of their allotments; and if, for any reason, such 
selection be not made for any citizen, it shall be the duty 
of said Commission to make selection for him. 

The homestead of each citizen shall remain, after dearth 
of the allottee, for the use and support of children born to 
him after the ratification of this agreement, but if he have 
no such issue, then he may dispose of his homestead by will, 
free of limitation herein imposed, and if this be not done, 
the land shall descend to his heirs according to the laws of 
descent and distribution of the Creek nation, free from 
such limitation. 

8. The Secretary of the Interior shall, through the 
United States Indian agent in said territory, immediately 
after the ratification of this agreement, put each citizen 
who has made selection of his allotment in unrestricted 
possession of his land and remove therefrom all persons 
objectionable to him; and when any citizen shall thereafter 
make selection of his allotment as herein provided, and re- 



Indian Territory 157 

ceive certificate therefor, he shall be immediately there- 
upon so placed in possession of his land. 

9. When allotment of one hundred and sixty acres 
has been made to each citizen, the residue of Jands, not 
herein reserved or otherwise disposed of, and all the funds 
arising under this agreement shall be used for the purpose 
of equalizing allotments, and if the same be insufficient 
therefor, the deficiency shall be supplied out of the other 
funds of the tribe, so that allotments of all citizens may be 
made equal in value, as nearly as may be, in manner herein 
provided. / 

TOWN SITES. 

10. All towns in the Creek nation having a present 
population of two hundred or more shall, and all others 
may, be surveyed, laid out, and appraised under the pro- 
visions of an act of Congress entitled "An act making ap- 
propriations of the current and contingent expenses of the 
Indian Department and for fulfilling treaty stipulations 
with various Indian tribes for the fiscal year ending June 
thirtieth, nineteen hundred and one, and for other pur- 
poses," approved May thirty-first, nineteen hundred, which 
said provisions are as follows: 

"That Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, 
under rules and regulations to be prescribed by him, to 
survey, lay out, and plat into town lots, streets, alleys and 
parks, the sites of such towns and villages in the Choctaw, 
Chickasaw, Creek and Cherokee nations, as may at any 
time have a population of two hundred or more, in such 
manner as will best subserve the then present needs and 
the reasonable prospective growth of such towns. The 
work of surveying, laying out, and platting such town sites 
shall be done by competent surveyors, who shall prepare 
^ve copies of the plat of each town site, which, when the 
survey is approved by the Secretary of the Interior- shall 
be filed as follows: One in the office of the Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs, one with the Principal Chief of the na- 



158 Treaties and Laws 

tion, one with the Clerk of the Court within the territorial 
jurisdiction of which the town is located, one with the Com- 
missioner of the five civilized tribes, and one with the town 
authorities, if there be such. Where in his judgment the 
best interests of the public service require, the Secretary, 
of the Interior may secure the surveying, laying out, and 
platting of town sites in any of said nations by contract. 

"Hereafter the work of the respective town site Com- 
missions provided for in the agreement with the Choctaw 
and Chickasaw tribes ratified in section twenty-nine of the 
Act of June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
eight, entitled 'An Act for the protection of the people of 
the Indian Territory, and for other purposes, 7 shall begin 
as to any town site immediately upon the approval of the 
survey by the Secretary of the Interior and not before. 

"The Secretary of the Interior may in his discretion 
appoint a town site commission consisting of three mem- 
bers for each of the Creek and Cherokee nations, at least 
one of whom shall be a citizen of the tribe and shall be ap- 
pointed upon the nomination of the Principal Chief of the 
tribe. Each commission, under the supervision of the Sec- 
retary of the Interior shall appraise and sell for the benefit 
of the tribe the town lots in the nation for which it is ap- 
pointed acting in conformity with the provision of any then 
existing Act of. Congress or agreement with the tribe ap- 
proved by Congress. The agreement of any two members 
of the commission as to the true value of any lot shall con- 
stitute a determination thereof, subject to the approval of 
the Secretary of the Interior, and if no two members are 
able to agree the matter shall be determined by such Sec- 
retary. 

"Where in his judgment the public interests will be 
thereby subserved, the Secretary of the Interior may ap- 
point in the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek or Cherokee na- 
tion a separate town site commission for any town, in 
which event as to that town such local conrniission may 



Indian Territory 159 

exercise the same authority and perform the same duties 
which would otherwise devolve upon the commission of 
that nation. Every such local commission shall be ap- 
pointed in the manner provided in the Act approved June 
twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, entitled 
'An Act for the protection of the people of the Indian Ter- 
ritory.' 

"The Secretary of the Interior, where in his judgment 
the public interests will be thereby subserved, may permit 
the authorities of any town in any of said nations, at the 
expense of the town, to survey, lay out and plat the site 
thereof, subject to the supervision and approval as in other 
instances. 

"As soon as the plat of any town site is approved, the 
proper commission shall, with all reasonable despatch and 
within a limited time, to be prescribed by the Secretary of 
the Interior, proceed to make the appraisement of the lots 
and improvements, if any, thereon, and after the approval 
thereof by the Secretary of the Interior, shall, under the 
supervision of such Secretary, proceed to the disposition 
and sale of the lots in conformity with any then existing 
Act of Congress or agreement with the tribe approved by 
Congress, and if the proper commission shall not complete 
such appraisement and sale within the time limited by the 
Secretary of the Interior, they shall receive no pay for 
such adidtional time as may be taken by them, unless the 
Secretary of the Interior, for good cause shown, shall ex- 
pressly direct otherwise. 

"The Secretary of the Interior may, for good cause, re- 
move any member of any town site commission, tribal or 
local, in any of said nations, and may fill the vacancy 
thereby made or any vacancy otherwise occurring in like 
manner as the place was originally filled. 

"It shall not be required that the town site limits es- 
tablished in the course of platting and disposing of town 
lots and the corporate limits of the town, if incorporated, 



160 Treaties and Laws 

shall be identical or co-extensive, but such town site limits 
and corporate limits shall be so established as to best sub- 
serve the then present needs and the reasonable prospec- 
tive growth of the town, as the same shall appear at the 
times when such limits are respectively established: Pro- 
vided further, That the exterior limits of all town sites 
shall be designated and fixed at the earliest practicable 
time under rules and regulations prescribed by the Secre- 
tary of the interior. 

"Upon the recommendation of the Commission to the 
five civilized tribes the Secretary of the Interior is here- 
by authorized at any time before allotment to set aside and 
reserve from allotment any lands in the Choctaw, Chicka- 
saw, Creek or Cherokee nations, not exceeding one hundred 
and sixty acres in any one tract, at such stations as are or 
shall be established in conformity with law on the line of 
any railroad which shall be constructed or be in process of 
construction in or through either of said nations prior to 
the allotment of the lands therein, and this irrespective of 
the population of such town site at the time. Such town 
sites shall be surveyed, laid out and platted, and the lands 
therein disposed of for the benefit of the tribe in the man- 
ner herein prescribed for other town sites: Provided 
further, That whenever any tract of land shall be set aside 
as herein provided which is occupied by a member of the 
tribe, such occupant shall be fully compensated for his im- 
provements thereon under such rules and regulations as 
may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior: Pro- 
vided, That hereafter the Secretary of the Interior may,| 
whenever the Chief Executive or Principal Chief of said| 
nation fails or refuses to appoint a town site commissions 
for any town or to fill any vacancy caused by the neglect| 
or refusal of the town site commissioner appointed by tin 
Chief Executive or Principal Chief of said nation to qualify 
or act, in his discretion appoint a commissioner to fill th( 
vacancy thus created, 



Indian Territory 161 

11. Any person in rightful possession of any town 
lot having improvements thereon, other than temporary 
buildings, fencing and tillage, shall have the right to pur- 
chase such lot by paying one-half of the appraised value 
thereof, but if he shall fail within sixty days to purchase 
such lot and make the first payment thereon, as herein pro- 
vided, the lot and improvements shall be sold at public auc- 
tion to the highest bidder, under the direction of the ap- 
praisement commission, at a price not less than their ap- 
praised value, and the purchaser shall pay the purchase 
price to the owner of the improvements, less the appraised 
value of the lot. 

12. Any person having the right of occupancy of a 
residence or business lot or both in any town, whether im- 
proved or not' and owning no other lot or land therein, 
shall have the right to purchase such lot by paying one-half 
of the appraised value thereof. 

13. Any person holding lands within a town occupied 
by him as a home, also any person who had at the time of 
signing this agreement purchased any lot, tract or parcel 
of land from any person in legal possession at any time, 
shall have the right to purchase the lot embraced in same 
by paying one-half of the appraised value thereof, not, how- 
ever, exceeding four acres. 

14. All town lots not having thereon improvements, 
other than temporary buildings, fencing and tillage, the 
sale or disposition of which is not herein otherwise spe- 
cifically provided for, shall be sold within twelve months 
after their appraisement, under direction of the Secretary 
of the Interior, after due advisement, at public auction to 
the highest bidder at not less than their appraised value. 

15. When the appraisement of any town lot is made, 
upon which any person has improvements as aforesaid, 
said appraisement commission shall notify him of the 
amount of said appraisement, and he shall within sixty 
days thereafter, make payment of ten per centum of the 
amount due for the lot, as herein provided, and four months 



162 Treaties and Laws 

thereafter he shall pay fifteen per centum additional, and 
the remainder of the- purchase money in three equal annual 
installments, without interest. 

Any person who may purchase an unimproved lot shall 
proceed to make payment for same in such time and man- 
ner as herein provided for the payment of sums due on im- 
proved lots, and if in any case any amount be not paid 
when due, it shall thereafter bear interest at the rate of 
ten per centum per annum until paid. The purchaser may 
in any case at any time make full payment for any town lot. 

16. All town lots purchased by citizens in accord- 
ance with the provisions of this agreement shall be free 
from incumbrance by any debt contracted prior to date of 
his deed therefor, except for improvements thereon. 

17. No taxes shall be assessed by any town govern- 
ment against any town lot remaining unsold, but taxes may 
be assessed against any town lot sold as li3rein provided, 
and the same shall constitute a lien upon the interest of the 
purchaser therein after any payment thereon has been 
made by him, and if forfeiture of any lot be made all taxes 
assessed against such lot shall be paid out of any money 
paid thereon by the purchaser. 

18. The Surveyors may select and locate a cemetery 
within suitable distance from each town, to embrace such 
number of acres as may be deemed necessary for such pur- 
pose, and the appraisement commission shall appraise the 
same at not less than twenty dollars per acre, and the town 
may purchase the land by paying the appraised value there- 
of; and if any citizen have improvements thereon, other 
than fencing and tillage, they shall be appraised by said 
commission and paid for by the town. The town authori- 
ties shall dispose of the lots in such cemetery at reasona- 
ble prices, in suitable sizes for burial purposes, and the 
proceeds thereof shall be applied to the general improve- 
ment of the property. 



Indian Territory 163 

19. The United States may purchase in any town in 
the Creek nation suitable land for court houses, jails and 
other necessary public buildings for its use, by paying the 
appraised value thereof, the same to be selected under the 
direction of the department for whose use such buildings 
are to be erected; and if any person haye improvements 
thereon, other than temporary buildings, fencing and till- 
age, the same shall be appraised and paid for by the United 
States. 

20. Henry Kendall college, Nazareth institution and 
Spaulding institution, in Muskogee, may purchase the par- 
cels of land occupied by them, or which may have been laid 
out for their use and so designated upon the plat of said 
town, at one-half of their appraised value, upon conditions 
herein provided; and all other schools and institutions of 
learning located in incorporated towns in the Creek nation 
may, in like manner, purchase the lots or parcels of land 
occupied by them. 

21. All town lots or parts of lots, not exceeding fifty 
by one hundred and fifty feet in size, upon which church 
houses and parsonages have been erected, and which are 
occupied as such at the time of appraisement, shall be 
properly conveyed to the churches to which such improve- 
ments belong gratuitously, and if such churches have 
other adjoining lots inclosed, actually necessary for their 
use, they may purchase the same by paying one-half the 
appraised value thereof. 

22. The towns of Clarksville, Coweta, Gibson Station 
and Mounds ma} 7 be surveyed and laid out in town lots and 
necessary streets and alleys, and platted as other towns, 
each to embrace such amount of land as may be deemed nec- 
essary not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres for either 
and in manner not to include or interfere with the allot 
ment of any citizen selected prior to the date of this agree 
ment, which survey may be made in manner provided for 
other towns; and the appraisement of the town lots of said 



164 Treaties and Laws 



towns may be made by any committee appointed for either 
of the other towns hereinbefore named, and the lots in said 
towns may be disposed of in like manner and on the same 
conditions and terms as those of other towns. All of such 
work may be done under the direction of and subject to the 
approval of the Secretary of the Interior. 

TITLES. 

23. Immediately after the ratification of this agree- 
ment by Congress and the tribe, the Secretary of the In- 
terior shall furnish the Principal Chief with blank deeds 
necessary for all conveyances herein provided for, and the 
Principal Chief shall thereupon proceed to execute in due 
form and deliver to each citizen who has selected or may 
hereafter select his allotment, which is not contested, a 
deed conveying to him all right, title, and interest of the 
Creek nation and of all other citizens in and to the lands 
embraced in his allotment certificate' and such other lands 
as may have been selected by him for equalization of his 
allotment. 

The Principal Chief shall, in like manner and with like 
effort, execute and deliver to proper parties deeds of con- 
veyance in all other cases herein provided for. -All lands 
or town lots to be conveyed in one deed, and all deeds shall 
be executed free of charge. 

All conveyances shall be approved by the Secretary of 
the Interior, which shall serve as a relinquishment to the 
grantee of all the right, title and interest of the United 
States in and to the lands embraced in his deed. 

Any allottee accepting such deed shall be deemed to 
assent to the allotment and conveyance of all the lands of 
the tribe, as provided herein, and as a relinquishment of 
all his right, title and interest in and to the same, except 
in the proceeds of lands reserved from allotment. 

The acceptance of deeds of minors and incompetents, 
by persons authorized to select their allotments for them, 



Indian Territory 165 

shall be deemed sufficient to bind such minors and incom- 
petents to allotment and conveyance of all other lands of 
the tribe, as provided herein. 

The transfer of the title of the Creek tribe to indi- 
vidual allottees and to other persons, as provided in this 
agreement, shall not inure to the benefit of any railroad 
company, nor vest in any railroad company any right, title, 
or interest in or to any of the lands in the Creek nation. 

All deeds when so executed and approved shall be filed 
in the office of the Dawes Commission* and there recorded 
without expense to the grantee, and such records shall 
have like effect as other public records. 

24. The following lands shall be reserved from the 
general allotment herein provided for: 

(a) All lands herein set apart for town sites. 

(b) All lands to which, at the date of the ratification 
of this agreement, any railroad company may, under treaty 
or act of Congress, have a vested right-of-way, depots, sta- 
tion grounds, water stations, stock yards, or similar uses 
connected with the maintenance and operation of the rail- 
road. 

' (c) Forty acres for the Eufaula High school. 

(d) Forty acres for the Wealaka Boarding school. 

(e) Forty acres for the Newyaka Boarding school. 

(f) Forty acres for the Wetumka Boarding school. 

(g) Forty acres for the Euchee Boarding school, 
(h) Forty acres for the Coweta Boarding school. 
(i) Forty acres for the Creek Orphan home. 

(j) Forty acres for the Tallahassee Colored Board 
ing school. 

(k) Forty acres for the Pecan Creek Colored Board- 
ing school. 

(1) Forty acres for the Colored Creek Orphan home. 

(m) All lands selected for town cemeteries, as herein 
provided, 



166 Treaties and Laws 

(n) The lands occupied by the university established 
by the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and lo- 
cated near the town of Muskogee, to the amount of forty 
acres, which shall be appraised excluding" improvements 
thereon, and said university shall have the right to pur- 
chase the same by paying one-half the appraised value 
thereof, on terms and conditions herein provided. All im- 
provements made by said university on lands in excess of 
said forty acres shall be appraised and the value thereof 
paid to it by the person to whom such lands may be al- 
lotted. 

(o) One acre each for the six established Creek court 
houses with the improvements thereon. 

(p) One acre each for all churches and schools outside 
of towns uoav regularly used as such. 

All reservations under the provisions of this agree- 
ment, except as otherwise provided herein, when not 
needed for the purposes for which they are at present used; 
shall be sold at public auction to the highest bidder, to citi- 
zens only, under directions of the Secretary of the Interior. 



MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS. 

25. Authority is hereby conferred upon municipal 
corporations in the Creek nation, with the approval of the 
Secretary of the Interior, to issue bonds and borrow money 
thereon for sanitary purposes, and for the construction of 
sewers, lighting plants, water works and school houses, 
subject to all the provisions of law of the United States in 
force in the organized territories of the United States in 
reference to municipal indebtedness and issuance of bonds 
for public purposes; and said provisions of law are hereby 
put in force in said nation and made applicable to the cities 
and towns therein the same as if especially enacted in ref- 
erence thereto. 



Indian Territory 167 



CLAIMS. 

26. All claims of whatsoever nature, including the 
"Loyal Creek claim" under article four of the treaty of 
eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the "Self -immigration 
claim" under article twelve the individual thereof may 
have against the United States, or any other claim arising 
under the treaty of eighteen hundred and sixty-six, or any 
claim which the United States may have against said tribe, 
shall be submitted to the Senate of the United States for 
determination; and within two years from the ratification 
of this agreement the Senate shall make final determina- 
tion thereof; and in the event that any sums are awarded 
the said tribe, or any citizen thereof, provision shall be 
made for immediate payment of same. 

Of these claims the "Loyal Creek claim" for what they 
suffered because of their loyalty to the United States gov- 
ernment during the civil war, long delayed, is so urgent in 
its character that the parties to this agreement express the 
hope that it may receive consideration and be determined 
at the earliest practicable moment. 

Any other claim which the Creek nation may have 
against the United States may be prosecuted in the Court 
of Claims of the United States, with right of appeal to the 
Supreme court; and jurisdiction to try and determine such 
claim is hereby conferred upon said courts. 

27. All treaty funds of the tribe shall hereafter be 
capitalized for the purpose of equalizing allotments and 
for the other purposes provided in this agreement. 

ROLLS OF CITIZENSHIP. 

28. No person except as herein provided, shall be 
added to the rolls of citizenship of said tribe after the date 
of this agreement, and no person whosoever shall be 
added to said rolls after the ratification of this agreement. 

All citizens who were living on the first day of April, 
eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, entitled to be enrolled 



168 Treaties and Laws 

under section twenty-one of the Act of Congress approved 
June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, en- 
titled, "An Act for the protection of the people of the In- 
dian Territory, and for other purposes,'' shall be placed 
upon the rolls to be made by said commission under said 
Act of Congress, and if any such citizen has died since that 
time, or may hereafter die, before receiving his allotment of 
lands and distributive share of all the funds of the tribe, the 
lands and money to which he would be entitled, if living, 
shall descend to his heirs according to the laws of descent 
and distribution of the Creek nation, and be allotted and 
distributed to them accordingly. 

All children born to citizens so entitled to enrollment, 
up to and including the first day of July, nineteen hundred, 
and then living, shall be placed on the rolls made by said 
Commission; and if any such child die after said date, the 
lands and moneys to which it would be entitled, if living, 
shall descend to its heirs according to the laws of descent 
and distribution of the Creek nation, and be allotted and 
distributed to them accordingly. 

The rolls so made by said Commission, when approved 
by the Secretary of the Interior, shall be the final rolls of 
citizenship of said tribe, upon which the allotment of all 
lands and the distribution of all moneys and other prop- 
erty of the tribe shall be made, and to no other persons. 

29. Said Commission shall have authority to enroll as 
Creek citizens certain full-blood Creek Indians not residing 
in the Cherokee nation, and also certain full-blood Creek 
Indians now residing in the Creek nation who have recent- 
ly removed there from the State of Texas, and the fami- 
lies of full-blood Creeks who now reside in Texas, and such 
other recognized citizens found on the Creek rolls as might, 
hv reason of non -residence, be excluded from enrollment by 
section twenty-one of said Act of Congress, approved June 
twentv-ei^hth, eighteen hundred and ninety-ei<rht: Pro- 
vided, That such non-residents shall, in good faith, remove 



Indian Territory 169 

to the Creek nation before said Commission shall complete 
the roll of Creek citizens as aforesaid. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

30. All deferred payments, under provisions of this 
agreement, shall constitute a lien in favor of the tribe on 
the property for which the debt was contracted, and if, at 
the expiration of two years from the date of payment of 
the fifteen per centum aforesaid, default in any annual pay- 
ment has been made, the lien for the payment of all pur- 
chase money remaining unpaid may be enforced in the 
United States court within the jurisdiction of which the 
town is located in the same manner as vendor's liens are 
enforced; such suit being brought in the name of the Prin- 
cipal Chief, for the benefit of the tribe. 

31. All moneys to be paid to the tribe under any of 
the provisions of this agreement shall be paid' under direc- 
tion of the Secretary of the Interior, into the Treasury of 
the United States to the credit of the tribe, and an itemized 
report thereof shall be made monthly to the Secretary of 
the Interior and to the Principal Chief. 

32. All funds of the tribe, and all moneys accruing 
under the provisions of this agreement, when needed for 
the purposes of equalizing allotments or for any other pur- 
poses herein prescribed, shall be paid out under the direc- 
tion of the Secretary of the Interior; and when required for 
per capita payments, if any, sLall be paid out directly to 
each individual by a bonded officer of the United States, un- 
der direction of the Secretary of the Interior, without un- 
necessary delay. 

33. No funds belonging to said tribe shall hereafter 
be used or paid out for any purpose by any officer of the 
United States without consent of the tribe, expressly given 
through its national council, except as herein provided. 

* 34. The United States shall pay all expenses incident 
to the survey, platting and disposition of town lots, and of 



170 Treaties and Laws 

allotment of lands made under the provisions of this agree- 
ment, except where the town authorities have been or may 
be duly authorized to survey and plat their respective 
towns at the expense of such town. 

35. Parents shall be the natural guardians of their 
children, and shall act for them as such unless a guardian 
shall have been appointed by a court having jurisdiction; 
and parents so acting shall not be required to give bond as 
guardians unless by order of such court, but they and all 
other persons having charge of lands, moneys and other 
property belonging to minors and incompetents, shall be 
required to make proper accounting therefor in the court 
having jurisdiction thereof in manner deemed necessary 
for the preservation of such estates. 

36. All Seminole citizens who have heretofore settled 
and made homes upon lands belonging to the Creeks may 
there take, for themselves and their families, such allot- 
ments as they would be entitled to take of Seminole lands, 
and all Creek citizens who have heretofore settled and made 
homes upon lands belonging to Seminoles may there take, 
for themselves and their families, allotments of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres each, and if the citizens of one tribe 
thus receive a greater number of acres than the citizens of 
the other, the excess shall be paid for by such tribe, at a 
price to be agreed upon by the Principal Chiefs of the two 
tribes, and if they fail to agree, the price shall be fixed by 
the Indian agent, but the citizenship of persons so taking 
allotments shall in no wise be affected thereby. 

Titles shall be conveyed to Seminoles selecting allot 
ments of Creek lands in manner herein provided for con- 
veyance of Creek allotments, and titles shall be conveyed 
to Creeks selecting allotments of Seminole lands in manner 
provided in the Seminole agreement, dated December six- 
teenth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, for conveyance 
of Seminole allotments: Provided, That deeds shall be ex- 



Indian Territory 171 

ecuted to allottees immediately after selection of allotment 
is made. 

This provision shall not take effect until after it shall 
have been separately and specially approved by the Creek 
national council and by the Seminole general council; and 
if not approved by either, it shall fail altogether and be 
eliminated from this agreement without impairing any 
other of its provisions. 

37. Creek citizens may rent their allotments, when 
selected, for a term not exceeding one year, and after re- 
ceiving title thereto without restriction, if adjoining allot- 
tees are not injured thereby, and cattle grazed thereon 
shall not be liable to any tribal tax ; but when cattle are in- 
troduced into the Creek nation and grazed on lands not se- 
lected by citizens, the Secretary of the Interio: is author- 
ized to collect from the owners thereof a reasonable graz- 
ing tax for the benefit of the tribe; and section twenty-one 
hundred and seventeen, revised statutes of th- United 
States, shall not hereafter apply to Creek land.,. 

38. After any citizen has selected his allotment he 
may dispose of any timber thereon, but if he disposes of 
such timber, or any part of same he shall not thereafter se j 
lect other lands in lieu thereof, and his allotment shall be 
appraised as if in condition when selected. 

No timber shall be taken from lands not so selected, 
and disposed of, without payment of reasonable royalty 
thereon, under contract to be prescribed by the Secretary 
of the Interior. " 

39. No non-citizen renting lands from a citizen for 
agricultural purposes, as provided by law, whether such 
lands have been selected as an allotment or not, shall be re- 
quired to pay any permit tax. 

40. The Creek school fund shall be used, under the 
direction of the Secretary of the Interior for the educa- 
tion of Creek citizens, and the Creek schools shall be con- 
ducted und-er rules and regulations prescribed by him, un- 



172 Treaties and Laws 



der direct supervision of the Creek school superintendent 
and a supervisor appointed by the Secretary, and under 
Creek laws, subject to such modifications as the Secretary 
of the Interior may deem necessary to make the schools 
most effective and to produce the best possible results. 

All teachers shall be examined by or under direction 
of said superintendent or supervisor, and competent teach- 
ers and other persons to be engaged in and about the 
schools with good moral character only shall be employed, 
but where all qualifications are equal preference shall be 
given to citizens in such employment. 

All moneys for running the schools shall be appropri- 
ated by the Creek national council, not exceeding the 
amount of the Creek school fund, seventy-six thousand four 
hundred and sixty-eight dollars and forty cents, but if it 
fail or refuse to make the necessary appropriations the 
Secretary of the Interior may direct the use of a sufficient 
amount of the school funds to pay all expenses necessary 
to the efficient conduct of the schools, strict account there- 
of to be rendered to him and to the Principal Chief. 

All accounts of expenditures in running the schools 
shall be examined and approved by said superintendent 
and supervisor, and also by the general superintendent of 
Indian schools, in Indian Territory, before payment thereof 
is made. 

If the superintendent and supervisor fail to agree 
upon any matter under their direction or control, it shall 
be decided by said general superintendent, subject to ap- 
peal to the Secretary of the Interior; but his decision shall 
govern until reversed by the Secretary. 

41. The provisions of section thirteen of the Act of 
Congress approved June twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred 
and ninety-eight, entitled "An Act for the protection of 
the people of the Indian Territory, and for other purposes," 
shall not apply to or in any manner affect the lands or 
other property of said tribe, or be in force in the Creek na- 



Indian Territory 173 



tion, and no Act of Congress or treaty provision inconsist- 
ent with this agreement shall be in force in said nation, 
except section fourteen of said last-mentioned Act, which 
shall continue in force as if this agreement had not been 
made. 

42. No act, ordinance, or resolution of the national 
council of the Creek nation in any manner affecting the 
lands of the tribe, or of individuals after allotment, or the 
moneys or other property of the tribe, or of the citizens 
thereof, except appropriations for the necessary incidental 
and salaried expenses of the Creek government as herein 
limited, shall be of any validity until approved by the Pres- 
ident of the United States. When any such act, ordinance, 
or resolution shall be passed by said council and approved 
by the Principal Chief, a true and correct copy thereof, duly 
certified, shall be immediately transmitted to the Presi- 
dent' who s&all, within thirty days after received by him, 
approve or disapprove the same. If disapproved, it shall 
be so indorsed thereon, and it shall be published in at least 
two newspapers having a bona fide circulation in the Creek 
nation. 

43. The United States agrees to maintain strict laws 
in said nation against the introduction, sale, barter or giv- 
ing away of liquors or intoxicants of any kind whatsoever. 

44. This agreement shall in no wise affect the pro- 
visions of existing treaties between the United States and 
said tribe except so far as inconsistent therewith. 

45. All things necessary to carrying into effect the 
provisions of this agreement, not otherwise herein specific- 
ally provided for, shall be done under authority and di- 
rection of the Secretary of the Interior. 

46. The tribal government of the Creek nation shall 
not continue longer than March fourth, nineteen hundred 
and six, subject to such further legislation as Congress 
may deem proper. 



174 Treaties and Laws 

47. Nothing contained in this agreement shall be con- 
strued to revive or re-establish the Creek courts which 
have been abolished by former Acts of Congress. 

Approved March 1, 1901. 

THE SEMINOLE AGREEMEMT. 

An act to ratify the agreement between the Dawes 
Commission and the Seminole nation of Indians. 

Wherein an agreement was made by Henry L. Dawes, 
Tarns Bixby, Frank C. Armstrong, Archibald S. McKennon, 
Thomas B. Needles, the Commission of the United States 
to the five civilized tribes, and Allison L. Aylesworth, sec- 
retary; John F. Brown, Okchan Harjo, William Cully, K. 
N. Kinkehee, Thomas West, Thomas Factor, Seminole Com- 
mission; A. J. Brown, secretary, on the part of the Sem- 
inole nation of Indians on December 16, 1897, as follows: 

Agreement between the United States Commissioners 
to negotiate with the five civilized tribes, and the Commis- 
sioners on the part of the Seminole nation. 

This agreement by and between the government of the 
United States of the first part, entered into in its behalf 
by the Commission to the fixe civilized tribes, Henry L. 
Dawes, Tarns Bixby, Prank C. Armstrong, Archibald S. 
McKennon and Thomas B. Needles, duly appointed and 
authorized thereunto, and the government of the Seminole 
nation in Indian Territory, of the second part, entered into 
on behalf of said government by its commission, duly ap- 
pointed and authorized thereunto, viz., John F. Brown, 
Okchan Harjo, William Cully, K. N. Kinkehee, Thomas 
West and Thomas Factor, 

Witnesseth, That in consideration of the mutual un- 
dertakings herein contained, it is agreed as follows: 

All lands belonging to the Seminole tribe of Indians 
shall be divided into three classes, designated as first, sec- 
ond and third class; the first class to be appraised at five 
dollars, the second class at two dollars and fifty cents, and 



Indian Territory 175 

the third class at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, 
and the same shall be divided among the members of the 
tribe so that each shall have an equal share thereof in 
value, so far as may be, the location and fertility of the 
soil considered; giving to each the right to select his al- 
lotment so as to include any improvements thereon, owned 
by him at the time; and each allottee shall have the sole 
right of occupancy of the land so allotted to him, during 
the existence of the present tribal government, and until 
the members of the said tribe shall have become citizens of 
the United States. Such allotments shall be made under 
the direction and supervision of the Commission to the five 
civilized tribes in connection with a representative ap- 
pointed by the tribal government; and the chairman of the 
said Commission shall execute and deliver to each allottee 
a certificate describing therein the land allotted to him. 

All contracts for sale, disposition or encumbrance of 
any part of any allotment made prior to date of patent 
shall be void. 

Any allottee may lease his allotment for any period 
not exceeding six years, the contract therefor to be ex- 
ecuted in triplicate upon printed blanks provided by the 
tribal government, and before the same shall become ef- 
fective it shall be approved by the Principal Chief and a 
copy filed in the office of the Clerk of the United States 
Court at Wewoka. 

No lease of any coal, mineral, coal oil, or natural gas 
within said nation shall be valid unless made with the 
tribal government, by and with the consent of the allottee 
and approved by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Should there be discovered on any allotment any coal, 
mineral, coal oil, or natural gas, and the same should be 
operated so as to produce royalty, one-half of such royalty 
shall be paid to such allottee and the remaining half into 
the tribal treasury until extinguishment of tribal govern- 
ment, and the latter shall be used for the purpose of equal- 



176 Treaties and Laws 

izing the value of allotments; and if the same be insufficient 
therefor, any other funds belonging to the tribe, upon ex- 
tinguishment of tribal government, may be used for such 
purpose, so that such allotment may be made equal in 
value as aforesaid. 

The town site of Wewoka shall be controlled and dis- 
posed of according to the provisions of an act of the gen- 
eral council of the Seminole nation, approved April 23, 
1897, relative thereto; and on extinguishment of the tribal 
government, deeds of conveyance shall issue to owners of 
lots as herein provided for allottees; and all lots remaining 
unsold at that time may be sold in such manner as may 
be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) of the funds 
belonging to the Seminoles, now held by the United States, 
shall be set apart as permanent school fund for the educa- 
tion of the children of the members of the said tribe, 
and shall be held by the United States at five per cent, in- 
terest, or invested so as to produce such amount of inter- 
est, which shall be, after extinguishment of tribal govern- 
ment, applied by the Secretary of the Interior to the sup- 
port of Mekasuky and Emahaka Academies and the dis- 
trict schools of the Seminole people; and there shall be se- 
lected and excepted from allotment 320 acres of land for 
each of said academies and eighty acres each for eight dis- 
trict schools in the Seminole country. 

There shall also be expected from allotment one-half 
acre for the use and occupancy of each of twenty-four 
churches, including those already existing and such others 
as may hereafter be established in the Seminole country, 
by and with consent of the general council of the nation; 
but should any of same, at any time, cease to be used for 
church purposes, such part shall at once revert to the Sem- 
inole people and be added to the lands set apart for the use 
of said district schools. 






Indian Territory 177 

One acre in each township shall be excepted from al- 
lotment and the same may be purchased by the United 
States upon which to establish schools for the education 
of children of non-citizens when deemed expedient. 

When the tribal government shall cease to exist the 
Principal Chief last elected by said tribe shall execute, 
under his hand and the seal of the nation, and deliver to 
each allottee a deed conveying to him all the right, title, 
and interest of the said nation and the members thereof 
in and to the lands so allotted to him, and the Secretary of 
the Interior shall approve such deed, and the same shall 
thereupon operate as relinquishment of the right, title and 
interest of the United States in and to the land embraced 
in said conveyance, and as a guarantee by the United States 
of the title to the allottee^ and the acceptance of such deed 
by the allottee shall be a relinquishment of his title to and 
interest in all other lands belonging to the tribe, except 
such as may have been excepted from allotment and held 
in common for other purposes. Each allottee shall desig- 
nate one tract of forty acres, which shall, by the terms of 
the deed, be made inalienable and non-taxable as a home- 
stead in perpetuity. 

All moneys belonging to the Seminoles remaining after 
equalizing the value of allotments as herein provided and 
reserving said sum of f500,000 for school funds shall be 
paid per capita to the members of said tribe in three equal 
installments, the first to be made as soon as convenient 
after allotment and extinguishment of tribal govern- 
ment, and the others at one and two years, respectively. 
Such payments shall be made by a person appointed by the 
Secretary of the Interior, who shall prescribe the amount 
of and approve the bond to be given by such person; and 
strict account shall be given to the Secretary of the In- 
terior for such disbursements. 

The loyal Seminole claim shall be submitted to the 
United States Senate, which shall make final determina- 



178 Treaties and Laws 

tion of same, and, if sustained, shall provide for payment 
thereof within two years from date herein. 

There shall hereafter be held at the town of Wewoka, 
the present capital of the Seminole nation, regular terms of 
the United States Court as at other points in the judicial 
district of which the Seminole nation is a part. 

The United States agrees to maintain strict laws in the 
Seminole country against the introduction, sale, barter, or 
giving away of intoxicants of any kind or quality. 

This agreement shall in no wise affect the provisions of 
existing treaties between the Seminole nation and the 
United States, except in so far as it is consistent therewith. 

The United States courts now existing, or that may 
hereafter be created, in the Indian Territory, shall have ex- 
clusive jurisdiction of all controversies growing out of the. 
title, ownership, occupation, or use of real estate owned by 
the Seminoles, and to try all persons charged with homi- 
cide, embezzlement, bribery and embracery hereafter com- 
mitted in the Seminole country, without reference to race 
or citizenship of the persons charged with such crime, if 
convicted, shall be punished as if he were a citizen or of- 
ficer of the United States, and the courts of said nation 
shall retain all the jurisdiction which they now have, ex- 
cept as herein transferred to the courts of the United 
States. 

When this agreement is ratified by the Seminole na- 
tion and the United States the same shall serve to repeal 
all the provisions of the Act of Congress approved June 7 
1897, in any manner affecting the proceedings of the gen- 
eral council of the Seminole nation. 

It being known that the Seminole Reservation is insuf- 
ficient for allotments for the use of the Seminole people, 
upon which they, as citizens, holding in severalty, may rea- 
sonably and adequately maintain their families, the United 
States will make effort to purchase from the Creek nation, 
at $1.25 per acre, 200,000 acres of land, immediately ad- 



Indian Territory 179 

joining" the eastern boundary of the Seminole Reservation 
and lying* between the North Fork and the South Fork of 
the Canadian river, in trust for and to be conveyed by prop- 
er patent by the United States to the Seminole Indians, 
upon said sum of $1.25 per acre being reimbursed to the 
United States by said Seminole Indians; the same to be 
allotted as herein provided for lands now owned by the 
Seminoles. 

This agreement shall be binding on the United States 
when ratified by Congress and on the Seminole people 
when ratified by the general council of the Seminole na- 
tion. 

Approved July 1, 1898. 

CURTIS ACT, EMBODYING THE ATOKA AGREEMENT. 

An act for the protection of the people of the Indian 
Territory, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of the United States of America in Congress assem- 
bled, That in all criminal prosecutions in the Indian Ter- 
ritory aginst officials for embezzlement, bribery, and em- 
bracery the word "officer," when the same appears in the 
criminal laws heretofore extended over and put in force in 
said territory, shall include all officers of the several tribes 
or nations of Indians in said territory. 

Sec. 2. That when in the progress of any civil suit, 
either in law or equity, pending in the United States Court 
in any district in said territory, it shall appear to the court 
that the property of any tribe is in any way affected by the 
issues being heard, said court is hereby authorized and re- 
quired to make said tribe a party to said suit by service 
upon the chief or governor of the tribe, and the suit shall 
thereafter be conducted and determined as if said tribe 
had been an original party to said action. 

Sec. 3. That said courts are hereby given jurisdiction 
in their respective districts to try cases against those who 



180 Treaties and Laws 

may claim to hold as members of a tribe and whose mem- 
bership is denied by the tribe, but who continue to hold 
said lands and tenements notwithstanding the objection of 
the tribe; and if it be found upon trial that the same are 
held unlawfully against the tribe by those claiming to be 
members thereof, and the membership and ri^ht are dis- 
allowed by the Commission to the five tribes, or the United 
States Court, and the judgment has become final, then said 
court shall cause the parties charged with unlawfully hold- 
ing said possessions to be removed from the same and 
cause the lands and tenements to be restored to the person 
or persons or nation or tribe of Indians entitled to the pos- 
session of the same: Provided always, That any person 
being a non-citizen in possession of lands, holding the pos- 
session thereof under an agreement, lease, or improve- 
ment contract with either of said nations or tribes, or any 
citizen thereof, executed prior to January 1, 1898, may, as 
to lands nbt exceeding in amount 160 acres, in defense of 
any action for the possession of said lands, show that he 
is and has been in peaceable possession of such lands, and 
that he has while in such possession made lasting and val- 
uable improvements thereon, and that he has not enjoyed 
the possession thereof a sufficient length of time to com- 
pensate him for such improvements. Thereupon the court 
or jury trying said cause shall determine the fair and rea- 
sonable value of such improvements and the fair and rea- 
sonable rental value of such lands for the time the same 
shall have been occupied by such j)erson, and if the im- 
provements exceed in value the amount of rents with which 
such person should be charged the court, in its judgment, 
shall specify such time as .will, in the opinion of the court, 
compensate such person for the balance due, and award 
him possession for such time unless the amount be paid by 
claimant within such reasonable tihie as the court shall 
specify. If the rinding be that the amount of rents ex- 
ceed the value of the improvements, judgment shall be 



Indian Territory 181 

rendered against the defendant for such sum, for which 
execution may issue. 

Sec. 1. That all persons who have heretofore made 
improvements on lands belonging to any one of the said 
tribes of Indians, claiming rights of citizenship, whose 
claims have been decided adversely under the Act of Con- 
gress, approved July 10, 1896, shall have possession thereof 
until and including December 31, 1898; and may, prior to 
that time, sell or dispose of the same to any member of 
the tribe owning the land who desires to take the same in 
his allotment. Provided, That this section shall not ap- 
ply to improvements which have been appraised and paid 
for, or payment tendered by the Cherokee nation under the 
agreement with the United States approved by Congress 
March 3, 1893. 

Sec. 5. That before any action by any tribe or person 
shall be commenced under section three of this act it shall 
be the duty of the party bringing the same to notify the 
adverse party to leave the premises for the possession of 
which the action is about to be brought, which notice shall 
be served at least thirty days before commencing the ac- 
tion by leaving a written copy with the defendant, or if he 
cannot be found, by leaving the same at his last known 
place of residence or business with any person occupying 
the premises over the age of twelve years, or, if his resi- 
dence or business address cannot be ascertained, by leav- 
ing the same with any person over the age of twelve years 
upon the premises sought to be recovered and described in 
said notice, and if there be no person with whom said no- 
tice can be left, then by posting same on the premises. 

Sec. 6. That the summons shall not issue in such ac- 
tion until the chief or governor of the tribe, or person or 
persons bringing suit in his own behalf, shall have filed a 
sworn complaint, on behalf of the tribe or himself, with 
the court, which shall, as near as practicable, describe the 
premises so detained, and shall set forth a detention with- 



182 Treaties and Laws 

out the consent of the person bringing said suit or the 
tribe, by one whose membership is denied by it: Provided, 
That if the chief or governor refuse or fail to bring suit in 
behalf of the tribe then any member of the tribe may make 
complaint and bring said suit. 

Sec. 7. That the court in granting a continuance of 
any ease, particularly under section three, may, in its dis- 
cretion, require the party applying therefor to give an un- 
dertaking to the adverse party, with good and sufficient 
securities, to be approved by the judge of the court, con- 
ditioned for the payment of all damages and costs and de- 
fraying the rent which may accrue if judgment be rendered 
against him. 

Sec. 8. That when a judgment for restitution shall be 
entered by the court the clerk shall, at the request of the 
plaintiff or his attorney, issue a writ of execution thereon, 
which shall command the proper officer of the court to 
cause the defendant or defendants to be forthwith re- 
moved and ejected from the premises and the plaintiff 
given complete and undisturbed possession of the same. 
The writ shall also command the said officer to levy upon 
the property of the defendant or defendants subject to ex- 
ecution, and also collect therefrom the costs of the action 
and all accruing costs in the service of the writ. Said 
writ shall be executed within thirty days. 

Sec. 9. That the jurisdiction of the court and munici- 
pal authority of the city* of Fort Smith for police purposes 
in the State of Arkansas is hereby extended over all the 
strip of land in the Indian Territory lying and being sit- 
uated between the corporate limits of the said city of Fort 
Smith and the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, and extending 
up the said Poteau river to the mouth of Mill creek; and 
all the laws and ordinances for the preservation of the 
peace and health of said city, as far as the same are ap- 
plicable, are hereby put in force therein: Provided, That 



Indian Territory 183 

no charge or tax shall ever be made or levied by said city 
against said land or the tribe or nation to whom it belongs. 

Sec. 10. That all actions for restitution of possession 
of real property under this act must be commenced by the 
service of a summons within two years after the passage 
of this act, where the wrongful detention or posesssion be- 
gan prior to the date of its passage; and all actions which 
shall be commenced hereafter, based upon wrongful de- 
tention or possession committed since the passage of this 
act, must be commenced within two years after the cause 
of action accrued. And nothing in this shall take away 
the right to maintain an action for unlawful and forcible 
entry and detainer given by the act of Congress passed 
May 2, 1890 (Twenty-sixth United States Statutes, page 
ninety-five). 

Sec. 11. That when the roll of citizenship of any one 
of said nations or tribes is fully completed as provided by 
law, and the survey of the lands of said nation or tribe is 
also completed, and commission heretofore appointed un- 
der acts of Congress, and known as the "Dawes Commis- 
sion," shall proceed to allot the exclusive use and occu- 
pance of the surface of all the lands of said nation or tribe 
susceptible of allotment among the citizens thereof, as 
shown by said roll, giving to each, so far as possible, his 
fair and equal share thereof, considering the nature and 
fertility of the soil, location and value of same; but all oil, 
coal, asphalt and mineral deposits in the lands of any tribe 
are reserved to such tribe, and no allotment of such lands 
shall carry the title to such oil, coal, asphalt or mineral 
deposits; and all town sites shall also be reserved to the 
several tribes, and shall be set apart by the commission 
heretofore mentioned as incapable of allotment. There 
shall also be reserved from allotment a sufficient amount 
of lands now occupied by churches, schools, parsonages, 
charitable institutions and other public buildings, for their 
present actual and necessary use, and no more, not to ex- 



184 Treaties and Laws 

ceecl five acres for each school and one acre for each church 
and each parsonage, and for such new schools as may be 
needed; also sufficient land for burial grounds where nec- 
essary. When such allotment of the lands of any tribe 
has been by them completed, said Commission shall make 
full reports thereof to the Secretary of the Interior for his 
approval: Provided, That nothing herein contained shall 
in any way affect any vested legal rights which may have 
been heretofore granted by act of Congress, nor be so con- 
strued as to confer any additional rights upon any parties 
claiming under any such act of Congress: Provided 
further, That whenever it shall appear that any member of 
a tribe is in possession of lands, his allotment may be 
made out of the lands in his possession, including his home 
if the owner so desires: Provided further, That if a per- 
son to whom an allotment shall have been made shall be 
declared, upon appeal as herein provided for, by any of 
the courts of the United States in or for the aforesaid ter- 
ritory, to have been illegally accorded rights of citizenship, 
and for that or for any other reason declared to be not en- 
titled to any allotment, he shall be ousted and ejected from 
said lands; that all persons known as intruders who have 
been paid for their improvements under existing laws and 
have not surrendered possession thereof who may be found 
under the provisions of this act to be entitled to citizen- 
ship, shall, within ninety days thereafter, refund the 
amount so paid them, with six per centum interest to the 
tribe entitled thereto; and upon their failure so to do said 
amount shall become a lien upon all improvements owned 
by such person in such territory, and may be enforced by 
such tribe; and unless such person makes such restitution 
no allotments shall be made to him: Provided further, 
That all lands allotted shall be nontransferable until after 
full title is acquired and shall be liable for no obligations 
contracted prior thereto by the allottee, and shall be non- 
taxable while so held; Provided further, That all towns! 



Indian Territory 185 

and cities heretofore incorporated under the provisions of 
this act are hereby authorized to secure, by condemnation 
or otherwise, all the lands actually necessary for public 
improvements, regardless of tribal lines; and when the 
same cannot be secured otherwise than by condemnation, 
then the same may be acquired as provided in sections 907 
and 912, inclusive, of Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of 
Arkansas. 

' Sec. 12. That when report of allotments of lands of 
any tribe shall be made to the Secretary of the Interior, 
as hereinbefore provided, he shall make record thereof, and 
when he shall confirm such allotments the allottees shall 
remain "in peaceable and undisturbed possession thereof, 
subject to the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 13. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby 
authorized and directed from time to time to provide rules 
and regulations in regard to the leasing of oil, coal, asphalt 
and other minerals in said territory, and all such leases 
shall be made by the Secretary of the Interior; and all such 
leases for any such minerals otherwise made shall be ab- 
solutely void. No lease shall be made or renewed for a 
longer period than fifteen years, nor cover the mineral in 
more than 640 acres of land, which shall conform as nearly 
as possible to the surveys. Lessees shall pay on each oil, 
coal, asphalt, or other mineral claim, at the rate of $100 
per annum, in advance, for the first and second years; $200 
per annum, in advance, for the third and fourth years, and 
$500, in advance, for each succeeding year thereafter, as 
advance royalty on the mine or claim on which they are 
made. All such payments shall be credit on royalty when 
each mine is developed and operated, and its production is 
in excess of such guaranteed annual advanced payments; 
and all lessees must pay said annual advanced payments 
on each claim, whether developed or undeveloped; and 
should any lessee neglect or refuse to pay such advanced 
annual royalty for the period of sixty days after the same 



186 Treaties and Laws 

becomes due and payable on any lease, the lease on which 
default is made becomes null and void, and the royalties 
paid in advance shall then become and be the money and 
property of the tribe. Where any oil, coal, asphalt, or 
other mineral is hereafter opened on land allotted, sold or 
reserved, the value of the use of the necessary surface 
for prospecting or mining, and the damage done to the other 
land and improvements, shall be ascertained under the di- 
rection of the Secretary of the Interior and paid to the al- 
lottee or owner of the land, by lessee or party operating 
the same, before operations begin: Provided, That noth- 
ing herein contained shall impair the rights, asphalt, or 
mineral, which have been assented to by act of Congress, 
but all such interests shall continue unimpaired hereby, 
and shall be assured to such holders or owners by leases 
from the Secretary of the Interior for the term not exceed- 
ing fifteen years, but subject to payment of advance royal- 
ties as herein provided, when such leases are not operated, 
to the rate of royalty on coal mined, and the rules and reg- 
ulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, 
and preference shall be given to such parties in renewals 
of such leases: And provided further, That when, under 
the customs and laws heretofore existing and prevailing in 
the Indian Territory, leases have been made of different 
groups or parcels of oil, coal, asphalt, or other mineral de- 
posits, and possession has been taken thereunder and im- 
provements made for the development of such oil, coal, 
asphalt, or other mineral deposits by lessees or their as- 
signs which have resulted in the production of oil, coal, as- 
phalt, or other mineral in commercial quantities by such 
lessees or their assigns, then such parties in possession 
shall be given preference in the making of new leases, in 
compliance with the directions of the Secretary of the In- 
terior; and in making new leases due consideration shall 
be made for the improvements of such lessees, and in all 
cases of the leasing or renewal of leases of oil, coal, as- 



Indian Territory i£7 

phalt and other mineral deposits preference shall be given 
to the parties in possession who have made improvements. 
The rate of royalty to be paid by all lessees shall be fixed 
by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 14. That the inhabitant of any city or town in 
said territory having two hundred or more residents there- 
in may proceed, by petition to the United States Court in 
the district in which such city or town is located, to have 
the same incorporated as provided in chapter twenty-nine 
of Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas, if not al- 
ready incorporated thereunder; and the clerk of said court 
shall record all papers and perform all the acts required 
of the Recorder of the county, or the Clerk of the County 
Court, or the Secretary of State, necessary for the incor- 
poration of any city or town, as provided in Mansfield's Di- 
gest and such city or town government, when authorized 
•.mil organized, shall possess all the powers and exercise all 
the rights of similar municipalities in said State of Arkan- 
sas. All male inhabitants of such cities and towns over 
the age of twenty-one years, who are citizens of the United 
States or of either of said tribes, who have resided therein 
more than six months next before any election held under 
this act shall be qualified voters at such election. That 
mayors of such cities and towns, in addition to their other 
powers, shall have the same jurisdiction in all civil and 
criminal cases arising within the corporate limits of such 
cities and towns, as, and co-extensive with, United States 
Commissioners in the Indian Territory, and may charge, 
collect and retain the same fees as such Commissioners now 
collect and account for to the United States; and the mar- 
shal or other executive officer of such city or town may ex- 
ecute all processes issued in the exercise of the jurisdiction 
hereby conferred, and charge and collect the same fees for 
similar services, as are allowed to constables under the 
laws now in force in said territorv. 



188 Treaties and Laws 

All elections shall be conducted under the provisions 
of chapter fifty-six of said digest, entitled "Elections/' so 
far as the same may be applicable; and all inhabitants of 
such cities and towns, without regard to race, shall be sub- 
ject to all laws and ordinances of such city and town gov- 
ernments, and shall have equal rights, privileges, and pro- 
tection therein. Such city or town governments shall in 
no case have any authority to impose upon or levy any tax 
against any lands in said cities or towns until after title 
is secured from the tribe; but all other property, together 
with all occupations and privileges, shall be subject to tax- 
ation. And the councils of such cities and towns, for the 
support of same and for school and other public purposes, 
may provide by ordinance for the assessment, levy and col- 
lection annually of a tax upon such property, not to ex- 
ceed in the aggregate two per centum of the assessed value 
thereof, in manner provided in chapter 129 of said digest, 
entitled "Revenue," and for such purposes may also im- 
pose a tax upon occupations and privileges. 

Such councils may also establish and maintain free 
schools in such cities and towns, under the provisions of 
sections 6258 to 6276, inclusive, of said digest, and may 
exercise all the powers conferred upon special school dis- 
tricts in cities and towns in the State of Arkansas by the 
laws of said state when the same are not in conflict with 
the provisions of this act. 

For the purpose of this section all the laws of said 
State of Arkansas therein referred to, so far as applicable 
are hereby put in force in said territory; and the United 
States Court therein shall have jurisdiction to enforce the 
same, and to punish any violation thereof, and the city or 
town councils shall pass such ordinances as may be neces- 
sary for the purpose of making the laws extended over 
them applicable to them and for carrying the same into ef- 
fect: Provided, That nothing in this act, or in the laws 
of the State of Arkansas, shall authorize or permit the sale 



Indian Territory 189 

of any intoxicating liquor in said territory, or the introduc- 
tion thereof into said territory; and it shall be the duty of 
the district attorneys in said territory and the officers of 
such municipalities to prosecute all violators of the laws 
of the United States relating to the introduction of intox- 
icating liquors into said territory, or to their sale, or ex- 
posure for sale, therein: Provided further, That owners 
and holders of leases or improvements in any city or town 
shall be privileged to transfer the same. 

Sec. 15. That there shall be a Commission in each 
town for each one of the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek and 
Cherokee tribes, to consist of one member to be appointed 
by the executive of the tribe, who shall not be interested in 
town property, other than his home; one person to be ap- 
pointed by the Secretary of the Interior, and one member 
to be selected by the town. ' And if the executive of the 
tribe or the town fail to select members as aforesaid, they 
may be selected and appointed by the Secretary of the 
Interior. 

Said Commissions shall cause to be surveyed and laid 
out town sites where towns with a present population of 
two hundred or more are located, conforming to the exist- 
ing survey so far as may be, with proper and necessary 
streets, alleys and public grounds, including parks and 
cemeteries, giving to each town such territory as may be 
required for its present needs and reasonable prospective 
growth; and shall prepare correct plats thereof, and file 
one with the Secretary of the Interior, one with the Clerk 
of the United States Court, one with the authorities of the 
tribe, and one with the town authorities. And all town 
lots shall be appraised by said Commission at their true 
value, excluding improvements; and separate appraisement 
shall be effective until approved by the Secretary of the 
Interior, and in case of disagreement by the members of 
such Commission as to the value of any lot, said secretary 
may fix the value thereof. 



190 Treaties and Laws 

The owner of the improvements upon any town lot, 
other than fencing, tillage or temporary buildings, may de- 
posit in the United States Treasury, Saint Louis, Mo., one- 
half of such appraised value; ten per centum within two 
months, and fifteen per centum more within six months 
after notice of appraisement, and the remainder in three 
equal annual installments thereafter, depositing with the 
Secretary of the Interior one receipt for each payment, 
and one with the authorities of the tribe, and such deposit 
shall be deemed a tender to the tribe of the purchase money 
for such lot. 

If the owner of such improvements on any lot fails to 
make deposit of the purchase money as aforesaid, then 
such lot may be sold in the manner herein provided for the 
sale of unimproved Ipts; and when the purchaser thereof 
has complied with the requirements herein for the pur- 
chase of improved lots he may, by petition, apply to the 
United States Court within whose jurisdiction the town is 
located for condemnation and appraisement of such im- 
provements, and petitioner shall, after judgment, deposit 
the value so fixed with the Clerk of the Court; and there- 
upon the defendant shall be required to accept same in full 
payment for his improvements or remove same from the 
lot within such time as may be fixed by the Court. 

All town lots not improved as aforesaid shall be- 
long to the tribe, and shall be in like manner appraised, 
and, after approval by the Secretary of the Interior, and 
due notice, sold to the highest bidder at public auction by 
said Commission, but not for less than their appraised 
value, unless ordered by the Secretary of the Interior; and 
purchasers may in like manner make deposits of the pur- 
chase money with like effect, as in case of improved lots. 

The inhabitants of any town may, within one year aft- 
er the completion of the survey thereof, make such deposit 
of ten dollars per acre for parks, cemeteries and other pub- 
lic grounds laid out by said Commission with like effect as 



Indian Territory 191 

for improved lots; and such parks and public grounds shall 
not be used for any purpose until such deposits are made. 

The person authorized by the tribe or tribes may ex- 
ecute or deliver to any such purchaser, without expense to 
him, a deed conveying to him the title to such lands or 
town lots; and thereafter the purchase money shall become 
the property of the tribe and all such moneys shall, when 
titles to all the lots in the towns belonging to any tribe 
have been thus perfected, be paid per capita to the mem- 
bers of the tribe: Provided, however, That in those town 
sites designated and laid out under the provisions of this 
act where coal leases are now being operated and coal is 
being mined there shall be reserved from appraisement and 
sale all lots occupied by houses of miners actually engaged 
in mining, and only while they are so engaged, and in addi- 
tion thereto a sufficient amount of land, to be determined 
by the appraisers, to furnish homes for the men actually 
engaged in working for the lessees operating said mines 
and a sufficient amount for all buildings and machinery for 
mining purposes: And. provided further, That when the 
lessee shall cease to operate said mines, then, and in that 
event, the lots of land so reserved shall be disposed of as 
provided for in this act. 

Sec. 16. That it shall be unlawful for any person, aft- 
er the passage of this act, except as hereinafter provided, 
to claim, demand or receive, for his own use or for the use 
of any one else, any royalty on oil, coal, asphalt or other 
mineral, or any timber or lumber, or any other kind of 
property whatsoever, or any rents on any lands or property 
belonging to any one of said tribes or nations in said terri- 
tory, or for any one to pay to any individual any such royal- 
ty or rents or any consideration therefor whatsoever; and 
all royalties and rents hereafter payable to the tribe shall 
be paid, under such rules and regulations as may be pre- 
scribed by the Secretary of the Interior, into the treasury 
of the United States to the credit of the tribe to which they 



192 Treaties and Laws 

belong: Provided, That where any citizen shall be in posses- 
sion of only such amount of agricultural or grazing lands 
as would be his just and reasonable share of the lands of 
his nation or tribe and that to which his wife and minor 
children are entitled, he may continue to use the same or 
receive the rents thereon until allotment has been made to 
him: Provided further, That nothing herein contained 
shall impair the rights of any member of a tribe to dispose 
of any timber contained on his, her or their allotment. 

Sec. 17. That it shall be unlawful for any citizen of 
any one of said tribes to inclose or in any manner, by him- 
self or through another, directly or indirectly, to hold pos- 
session of any greater amount of lands or other property 
belonging to any such nation or tribe than that which 
would be his approximate share of the lands belonging to 
such nation or tribe and that of his wife and his minor chil- 
dren as per allotment herein provided; and an; person 
found in such possession of lands or other property in ex- 
cess of his share and that of his family, as aforesaid, or 
having the same in any manner enclosed, at the expiration 
of nine months after the passage of this act, shall be 
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Sec. 18. That any person convicted of violating any 
other provisions of sections sixteen and seventeen of this 
act shall be deemed guilty of misdemeanor and punished 
by a fine not less than one hundred dollars, and shall stand 
committed until such fine and costs are paid (such commit- 
ment not to exceed one day for every two dollars of said 
fine and costs), and shall forfeit possession of any proper- 
ty in question, and each day on which such offense is com- 
mitted or continues to exist shall be deemed a separate of- 
fense. And the United States district attorneys in said 
territory are required to see that the provisions of said sec- 
tions are strictly enforced and they shall at once proceed 
to dispossess all persons of such excessive holdings of land 
and to prosecute them for so unlawfully holding the same, 



I n d ian T e r r i t o r y 193 

That no payment of any moneys on any account whatso- 
eyer shall hereafter be made by the United States to any 
of the tribal governments or to any officer thereof for dis- 
bursement, but payments of all sums to members of said 
tribes shall be made under direction of the Secretary of the 
Interior by an officer appointed by him; and per capita pay- 
ments shall be made direct to each individual in lawful 
money of the United States, and the same shall not be lia- 
ble to the payment of any previously contracted obligation. 

Sec. 20. That the Commission hereinbefore named 
shall have authority to employ, with approval of the Sec- 
retary of the Interior, all assistance necessary for the 
prompt and efficient performance of all duties herein im- 
posed, including competent surveyors to make allotments, 
and to do any other needed work, and the Secretary of the 
Interior may detail competent clerks to aid them in the 
performance of their duties. 

Sec. 21. That in making* rolls of citizenship of the 
several tribes as required by law, the Commission to the 
five civilized tribes is authorized and directed to take the 
roll of Cherokee citizens of 18S0 (not including freedmen) 
as the only roll intended to be confirmed by this and pre- 
ceding acts of Congress, to enroll all persons now living 
whose names are found on said roll, and all descendants 
born since the date of said roll to persons whose names are 
found thereon; and all persons who have been enrolled by 
the tribal authorities who have heretofore made permanent 
settlements in the Cherokee nation whose parents, by rea- 
son of their Cherokee blood, have been lawfully admitted 
to citizenship by the tribal authorities, and who were 
minors when their parents were so admitted; and they 
shall investigate the right of all other persons whose 
names are found on any other rolls and omit all such as 
may have been placed thereon by fraud or without authori- 
ty of law, enrolling only such as may have lawful right 
thereto, and their descendants born since such rolls were 



194 Treaties and Laws 

made with such intermarried white persons as may be en- 
titled to citizenship under Cherokee laws. 

It shall make a roll of Cherokee freedmen in strict com- 
pliance with the decree of the court of claims rendered the 
third day of February, 18!) 6. 

Said Commission is authorized and directed to make 
correct rolls of the citizens by blood of all the other tribes, 
eliminate from the tribal rolls such names as may have 
been placed thereon by fraud or without authority of law, 
enrolling such only as may have 1 lawful right thereto, and 
their descendants born since such rolls were made, with 
such intermarried white persons as may be entitled to 
Choctaw and Chickasaw citizenship under the treaties and 
laws of said tribes. 

Said Commission shall have authority to determine the 
identity of Choctaw Indians claiming rights in the Choc- 
taw lands under article fourteen of the treaty between the 
United States and the Choctaw nation concluded Septem- 
ber 27, 1830, and to that end they may administer oaths, 
examine witnesses, and perform all other acts necessary 
thereto and make reports to the Secretary of the Interior. 

The roll of Creek freedmen made by J. TV. Dunn, under 
authority of the United States, prior to March 14, 1867, is 
hereby confirmed, and said commission is directed to enroll 
all persons now living whose names are found on said rolls, 
and all descendants born since the date of said roll to per- 
sons whose names are found thereon, with such other per- 
sons of African descent as may have been rightfully ad- 
mitted by the lawful authorities of the Creek nation. 

It shall make a correct roll of all Choctaw freedmen 
entitled to citizenship under the treaties and laws of the 
Choctaw nation, and all their descendants born to them 
since the date of the treaty. 

It shall make a correct roll of all the Chickasaw freed- 
men entitled to any rights or benefits under the treaty 
made in 1866 between the United States and the Choctaw 



Indian Territory. 195 

and Chickasaw tribes and their descendants born to them, 
since the date of said treaty and forty acres of land, includ- 
ing their present residences and improvements, shall be 
allotted to each, to be selected, held and used by them un- 
til their rights under said treaty shall be determined in 
such manner as shall be hereafter provided by Congress. 

The several tribes may, by agreement, determine the 
right of persons who for any reason may claim citizenship 
in two or more tribes, and to allotments of lands and dis- 
tribution of moneys belonging to each tribe; but if no such 
agreement be made, then such claimant shall be entitled to 
such rights in one tribe only, and may elect in which tribe 
he will take such right, but if he fail or refuse to make se- 
lection in due time, he shall be enrolled in the tribe with 
whom he has resided, and there be given such allotment 
and distribution, and not elsewhere. 

No person shall be enrolled who has not heretofore re- 
moved to and in good faith settled in the nation in which 
he claims citizenship: Provided, however, That nothing 
contained in this act shall be so construed as to militate 
against any rights or privileges which the Mississippi 
Choctaws may have under the laws of or the treaties with 
the United States. 

Said Commission shall make such rolls descriptive of 
the persons thereon, so that they may thereby be identified, 
and it is authorized to take a census of each of said tribes, 
or to adopt any other means by them deemed necessary to 
enable them to make such rolls. They shall have access 
to all rolls and records of the several tribes, and the United 
States Court in Indian Territory shall have jurisdiction to 
compel the officers of the tribal governments and cus- 
todians of such rolls and records to deliver same to said 
Commission, and on their refusal or failure to do so to 
punish them for contempt; also to require all citizens of 
said tribes, and persons who should be so enrolled, to ap- 
pear before said Commission for enrollment, at such times 



196 Treaties and Laws 

and places as may be fixed by said Commission, and to en- 
force obedience of all others concerned, so far as the same 
may be necessary, to enable said Commission to make rolls, 
as herein required, and to punish anyone who may in any 
manner or by any means obstruct said work. The rolls so 
made, when approved bv the Secretary of the Interior, 
shall be final, and the persons whose names are found 
i hereon, with their descendants thereafter born to them, 
with such persons as may intermarry according to tribal 
laws, shall alone constitute the several tribes which the}' 
represent. 

The members of said Commission shall, in performing 
all duties required of them by law, have authority to ad- 
minister oaths, examine witnesses, and send for persons 
and papers; and any person who shall willfully and know- 
ingly make any false affidavit or oath to any material fact 
or matter before any member of said Commission, or be- 
fore any other officer authorized to administer oaths, to 
any affidavit or other paper to be filed or oath taken before 
said Commission, shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and 
on conviction thereof shall be punished as for such offense. 

Sec. 22. That where members of one tribe, under in- 
tercourse laws, usages, or customs, have made homes with- 
in the limits and on the lands of another tribe they may re- 
tain and take allotment, embracing same under such agree- 
ment as may be made between such tribes respecting such 
settlers; but if no such agreement as may be made the im 
provements so made shall be appraised, and the value there- 
of, including all damages incurred by such settler incident 
to enforced removal, shall be paid to him immediately uponj 
removal, out of any funds belonging to the tribe, or such] 
settler, if he so desire, may make private sale of his im- 
provements to any citizen of the tribe owning the lands:] 
Provided, That he shall not be paid for improvements madel 
on lands in excess of that to which^he, his wife and minor| 
children are entitled to under this act. 



Indian Territory 



Sec. 23. That all leases of agricultural or grazing land 
belonging to any tribe made after the first day of Jan- 
uary, 1898, by the tribe or any member thereof shall be ab- 
solutely void, and all such date shall terminate on the first 
day of April, 1899, and all such agricultural leases shall 
terminate on January 1, 1900; but this shall not prevent 
individuals from leasing their allotments when made to 
them as provided in this act, nor from occupying or rent- 
ing their proportionate shares of the tribal lands until the 
allotments herein provided for are made. 

Sec. 24. That all moneys paid into the United States 
Treasury at Saint Louis, Mo., under provision of this act 
shall be placed to the credit of the tribe to which they be- 
long; and the Assistant United States Treasurer shall give 
triplicate receipts therefor to the depositor. 

Sec. 25. That before any allotment shall be made of 
lands in the Cherokee nation, there shall be segregated 
therefrom or by the Commission heretofore mentioned, to 
separate allotments or otherwise, the 157,600 acres pur- 
chased by the Delaware tribe of Indians from the Chero- 
kee nation under agreement of April 8, 1867, subject to 
the judicial determination of the rights of said descendants 
and the Cherokee nation under said agreement. That the 
Delaware Indians residing in the Cherokee nation are here- 
by authorizd and empowered to bring suit in the court of 
claims of the United States, within sixty days after the 
passage of this act, against the Cherokee nation, for the 
purpose of determining the rights of said Delaware Indians 
in and to the lands and funds of said nation under their 
contract and agreement with the Cherokee nation dated 
April 8, 1867; or the Cherokee nation may bring a like suit 
against said Delaware Indians; and jurisdiction is con- 
ferred on said court to adjudicate and fully determine the 
same, with right of appeal to either party to the supreme 
court of the United States. 



198 Treaties and Laws 

Sec. 26. That on any after the passage of this act the, 
laws of the various tribes or nations of Indians shall not be 
enforced at law or in equity by the courts of the United 
States in the Indian Territory. 

Sec. 27. That the Secretary of the Interior is auth- 
orized to locate one Indian inspector in Indian Terri- 
tory, who may, under his authority and direction, perform 
any duties required of the Secretary of the Interior by law, 
relating to affairs therein. 

Sec. 28. That on the 1st day of July, 1898, all tribal 
court in the Indian Territory shall be abolished, and no of- 
ficer of said courts shall thereafter have any authority 
whatever to do or perform any act theretofore authorized 
by any law in connection with said courts, or to receive any 
pay for same; and all civil and criminal causes then pend- 
ing in any such court shall be transferred to the United 
States Court in said territory by filing with the clerk of the 
court the original papers in the suit: Provided, That this 
section shall not be in force as to the Chickasaw, Choctaw 
and Creek tribes or nations until the 1st day of October, 
1898. 

THE ATOKA AGREEMENT. 

Sec. 29. That the agreement made by the Commission 
to the five civilized tribes w T ith commissions representing 
the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes of Indians on the 23d 
day of April, 1897, as herein amended, is hereby ratified 
and confirmed, and the same shall be of full force and ef- 
fect if ratified before the 1st day of December, 1898, by a 
majority of the whole number of votes cast by the mem- 
bers of said tribes at an election held for that purpose; and 
the executives of said tribes are hereby authorized and di- 
rected to make public proclamation that said agreement 
shall be voted on at the next general election or at 
any special election to be called by such execu- 
tives for the purpose of voting on said agreement' 
and at the election held for such purpose all male members 



Indian Territory 199 

of each tribe qualified to vote under his tribal laws shall 
have the right to vote at election precinct inosi convenient 
to his residence, whether the same" be within the bounds 
of his tribe or not : Provided, That no person whose right 
to citizenship in either of said tribes or nations is now con- 
tested in original or appellate proceedings before any 
United States Court shall be permitted to vote at said elec- 
tion: Provided further, That the votes cast in both said 
tribes or nations shall be forthwith returned duly certified 
by the precinct officers to the national secretaries to a 
board of commissioners consisting of the Principal Chief 
and National Secretary of the Choctaw nation, the Gov- 
ernor and National Secretary of the Chickasaw nation, and 
a member of the Commission to the five civilized tribes, to 
be designated by the Chairman of said Commission; and 
said board shall meet without delay at Atoka, in the In- 
dian Territory, and canvass and count said votes and make 
proclamation of the result; and if said agreement as 
amended be so ratified, the provisions of this act shall then 
only apply to said tribes where the same do not conflict 
with the provisions of said agreement; but the provisions 
of said agreement, if so ratified, shall not in any manner 
affect the provisions of section fourteen of this act, which 
said amended agreement is as follows: 

This agreement, by and between the government of 
the United States, of the first part, entered into in its be- 
half by the Commission to the five civilized tribes, Henry 
L. Dawes, Frank C. Armstrong, Archibald S. McKennon, 
Thomas B. Cabiniss and Alexander B. Montgomery, duly 
appointed and authorized thereunto, and the governments 
of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes or nations of Indians 
in the Indian Territory, respectively, of the second part, 
entered into in behalf of such Choctaw and Chickasaw gov- 
ernments, duly appointed and authorized thereunto, viz: 
Green McCurtain, J. S. Standley, N. B. Ainsworth, Ben 
Hampton, Wesley Anderson, Amos Henry, D. C. Garland 
and A. S. Williams, in behalf of the Choctaw tribe or na- 



200 Treaties and La 



tion, and R. M. Harris, T. (). Lewis, Holmes Colbert, 1*. S. 
Mosely, M. V. Cheadle, R. L. Murray, William Perry, A. II. 

Colbert and 11. L. Boyd, in behalf of the Chickasaw tribe or 
nation. 

ALLOTMENT OF LANDS. 

Witnesseth, That in consideration of the mutual un- 
dertakings; herein contained, it is agreed as follows: 

That all the lands within the Indian Territory belong- 
ing to the Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians shall be al- 
lotted to the members of said tribes so as to give to each 
member of these tribes so far as possible a fair and equal 
share thereof, considering the character and fertility oH 
the soil and the location and value of the lands. 

That all the lands set apart for town sites, and the 
strip of land lying between the city of Fort Smith, Arkan- 
sas, and the Arkansas and Poteau rivers, extending up said 
river to the mouth of INI ill creek: and C>40 acres each, to in- 
clude the buildings now occupied by the Jones academy, 
Tuskahoma Female seminary, Wheelock Orphan seminary 
and Armstrong Orphan academy, and ten acres for the cap- 
itol building of the Choctaw nation; 100 acres each, im- 
mediately contiguous to and including the buildings known 
as Bloomfield academy, Lebanon Orphan home, Harley In- 
stitute, Rock academy and Collins Institute, and five acres 
for the capitol building in the Chickasaw nation, and the 
use of one acre of land for each church house now erected 
outside of the towns, and eighty acres of land each for J. 
S. Murrow, H. R. Schermerhorn and the widow of R. S. 
Bell, who have been laboring as missionaries in the Choc- 
taw and Chickasaw nations since the ye°r 1866, with the 
same conditions and limitations as apply to lands allotted 
to the members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, and 
to be located on lands not occupied by a Choctaw or a 
Chickasaw, and a reasonable amount of land to be deter- 
mined by the Town Site Commission, to include all court 
houses and jails and other public buildings not hereinbe- 



Indian Territory 201 

fore provided for, shall be exempted from division. And 
all coal and asphalt in or under the lands allotted and re- 
served from allotment shall be reserved for the sole nse 
of the members of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, ex- 
clusive of freedmen: Provided, That where any coal or 
asphalt is hereafter opened on land allotted, sold, or re- 
served, the value of the nse of the necessary surface for 
prospecting or mining", and the damage done to the other 
land and improvements, shall be ascertained under the di- 
rection of the Secretary of the Interior and paid to the al- 
lottee or owner of the land by the lessee or party operating 
the same, before operations begin. That in order to such 
equal division, the lands of the Choctaws and Chickasaws 
shall be graded and appraised so as to give to each mem- 
ber, so far as possible, an equal value of the land: Pro- 
vided further, That the Commission to the five civilized 
tribes shall make a correct roll of Chickasaw freedmen en- 
titled to any rights or benefits under the treaty made in 
1SGG between the United States and the Choctaw and 
Chickasaw tribes and their descendants born to them since 
the date of said treaty, and. forty acres of land, including 
their present residences and improvements, shall be al- 
lotted to each, to be selected, held, and used by them until 
their rights under said treaty shall be determined, in such 
manner as shall hereafter be provided by act ~f Congress, 

That the lands allotted to the Choctaw and Chickasaw 
freedmen are to be deducted from the portion to be allotted 
under this agreement to the members of the Choctaw and 
Chickasaw tribes so as to reduce the allotment to the Choc- 
taws and Chickasaws by the value of the same. 

That the said Choctaw and Chickasaw freedmen who 
may be entitled to allotments of forty acres each shall be 
entitled each to land equal in value to forty acres of the 
average land of the two nations. 

That in the appraisement of the lands to be allotted 
the Choctaw and Chickasaw* tribes shall each have a rep- 



^02 Treaties and Laws 



resentative, to be appointed by their respective executives 
(o co-operate with the Commission to the five civilized 
tribes, or any one making appraisements under the direc- 
tion of the Secretary of the Interior in grading and ap- 
praising the lands preparatory to allotment. And the land 
shall be valued in the appraisement as if in its original con- 
dition, excluding the improvements thereon. 

That the appraisement and allotment shall be made 
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, and 
shall begin as soon as the progress of the surveys, now be- 
ing made by the United States government will admit. 

That each member of the Choctaw and Chickasaw 
tribes, including Choctaw and Chickasaw freedmen, shall, 
where it is possible, have the right to take his allotment 
of land, the improvements on which belong to him, and 
such improvements shall not be estimated in the value of 
his allotment. In the case of minor children allotments 
shall be selected for them by their father, mother, guar- 
dian or the administrator having charge of their estate, 
preference being given in the order named, and hall not 
be sold during his minority. Allotments shall be selected 
for prisoners, convicts and incompetents by some suitable 
person akin to them, and due care taken that all persons 
entitled thereto have allotments made to them. 

All the lands allotted shall be non-taxable while the 
title remains in the original allottee, but not to exceed 
twenty-one years from date of patent, and each allottee, 
shall select from his allotment a homestead of 1G0 acres, 
for which he shall have a separate patent, and which shall 
be inalienable for twenty-one years from date of patent. 
This provision shall also apply to the Choctaw and Chick- 
asaw freedmen to the extent of his allotment. Selections 
for homesteads for minors to be made as provided herein in 
case o-f allotment, and the remainder of the lands allotted 
to said members shall be alienable for a price to be actual- 
ly paid, and to include no former indebtedness or obligation 



Indian Territory 203 

— one-fourth of said remainder in one year, one-fourth in. 
three years, and the balance of said alienable lands in five 
years from the date of the patent. 

That all contracts looking to the sale or incumbrance 
in any way of the land of an allottee, except the sale here- 
inbefore provided, shall be null and void. No allottee shall 
lease his allotment, or any portion thereof, for a longer 
period than five years, and then without the privilege of 
renewal. Every lease which is not evidenced by writing, 
setting out specifically the terms thereof, or which is not 
recorded in the clerk's office of the United States Court for 
the district in which the land is located, within three 
months after the date of its execution, shall be void, and 
the purchaser or lessee shall acquire no rights whatever 
by an entry or holding thereunder. And no such lease or 
any sale shall be valid as against the allottee unless pro- 
viding to him a reasonable compensation for the lands sold 
or le'ased. 

That all controversies arising between the members 
of said tribes as to their right to have certain lands al- 
lotted to them shall be settled by the Commission making 
the allotments. 

That the United States shall put each allottee in pos- 
session of his allotment and remove all persons therefrom 
objectionable to the allottee. 

That the United States shall survey and definitely 
mark and locate the ninety-eighth (98th) meridian of west 
longitude between Eed and Canadian rivers before allot- 
ment of the lands herein provided for shall begin. 

MEMBERS' TITLES TO LANDS. 

That as soon as practicable, after the completion of 
said allotments, the Principal Chief of the Choctaw nation 
and the Governor of the Chickasaw nation shall jointly 
execute, under the hands and the seals of the respective 
nations, and deliver to each of the said allottees patents 



Treaties and Laws 



conveying to him all the right, title and interest of the 
Choctaws and Chickasaws in and to the land which shall 
have been allotted to him in conformity with the require- 
ments of this agreement, excepting all coal and asphalt in 
or under said land. Said patents shall be framed in ac- 
cordance with the provisions of this agreement, and shall 
embrace the land allotted to such patentee and no oAer 
land, and the acceptance of his patents by such allottee 
shall be operative as an assent on his part to the allot- 
ment and conveyance of all the lands of the Choctaws and 
Chickasaws in accordance with the provisions of this 
agreement, and as a relinquishment of all his right, title 
and interest in and to any and all parts thereof, except the 
land embraced in said patents, except also his interest in 
the proceeds of all lands, coal and asphalt herein excepted 
from allotment. 

That the Tinted States shall provide by law for proper 
records of land titles in the territory occupied by the Choc- 
taw and Chickasaw tribes. 

RAILROADS. 

The rights of way for railroads through the Choctaw 
and Chickasaw nations to be surveyed and set apart and 
platted to conform to the respective acts of Congress grant- 
ing the same in cases Avhere said rights of way are defined 
by such acts of Congress, but iu cases where the acts of 
Congress do not define the same then Congress is memorial- 
ized to definitely fix the width of said rights of way for 
station grounds and between stations, so that railroads 
now constructed through said nations shall have, as near 
as possible, uniform rights of way; and Congress is also re- 
quested to fix uniform rates of fare and freight for all 
railroads through the Choctaw^ and Chickasaw nations; 
branch railroads now constructed and not built according 
to acts of Congress to pay the same rates for rights of way 
and station grounds as main lines. 



Indian Territory 205 

TOWN SITES. 

It is further agreed that there shall be appointed a 
Commission for each of the two nations. Each Commis- 
sion shall consist of one member, to be appointed by the 
executive of the tribe for which said Commission is to act, 
who shall not be interested in town property other than 
his home, and one to be appointed by the President of the 
United States. Each of said Commissions shall lay out 
town sites, to be restricted as far as possible to their pres- 
ent limits, where towns arc 1 now located in the nation for 
which said Commission is appointed. Said Commission 
shall have prepared correct and proper plats of each town, 
and file .one in the clerk's office of the United States dis- 
trict court for the district in which the town is located, 
and one with the Principal Chief* or Governor of the na- 
tion in which the town is located, and one with the Secre- 
tary of the Interior, to be approved by him before the same 
shall take effect. When said towns are so laid out, each, 
lot on which permanent, substantial and valuable improve- 
ments, other than fences, tillage and temporary houses, 
have been made, shall be valued by the Commii ion pro- 
vided for the nation in which the town is located at the 
price a fee simple title to the same would bring in the 
market at the time the valuation is made, but not to in- 
clude in such value the improvements thereon. The owner 
of the improvements on each lot shall have the right to 
buy one residence and one business lot at fifty per centum 
of the appraised value of such improved property, and the 
remainder of such improved property at 62y 2 per centum 
of the said market value within sixty days from date of no- 
tice served on him that such lot is for sale, and if he pur- 
chases the same he shall, within ten days from his pur- 
chase, pay into the treasury of the United States one^ 
fourth of the purchase price, and the balance in three equal 
annual installments, and when the entire sum is paid shall 
be entitled to a patent for the same. In case the two 



206 T r a nd L a v. 

members of* the Commission fail to agree as to the market 
value of any lot or the limil or extenl of ^;ii«l town, either 
of said Commissioners may report any such disagreement 
to the judge of the district in which such town Is located, 
who shall appoint a third member i<» act with said Com- 
mission, win* is not interested in town lots, who shall act 
with them to determine said value. 

[f such owner of the improvements on any lot fails 
within sixty days to purchase and make the first payment 
on same, such lot, with the improvements thereon, shall be 
sold at public auction to the highest bidder under the direc- 
tion of the aforesaid Commission, and the purchaser at 
such sale shall pay to the owner of the improvements the 
price for which said lot shall be sold, less , '»- 1 - per cei 
said appraised value of the lot, and shall pay the *'>- ' 
cent, of siiid appraised vahie into the United Statel 
ury, under regulations to ho established by the Secretary 
of the Interior, in four installments, us hereinbefore pro- 
vided. The Commission shall have the right to reject any 
bid on such lot which they consider below its value. 

All lots not bo appraised shall be sold from time to 
time at public auction (after proper advertisement) by the 
Commission Tor the nation in which the town is located, as 
may seem for the best interest of the nations and the prop- 
er development of each town, the purchase price to be paid 
in four installments us hereinbefore provided for improved 
lots. The Commission shall have the right to reject any 
bid for such lots which they consider below its value 

All the payments herein provided for shall be made 
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior into 
the United States Treasury, a failure of sixty days to make 
any one payment to be a forefeiture of all payments made 
and all rights * under the contract: Provided, That the 
purchaser of any lot shall have the option of paying tho en- 
tire price of the lot before the same is due. 



Indian Territory 207 

No tax shall be assessed by any town government 
against any town lo1 unsold by the Commission, and no tax 
levied against a lot sold, as herein provided, shall consti- 
tute a lien on same till purchase price thereof has been 
fully paid to the nation. 

The money paid into the United States Treasury for 

the sale of all town lots shall be for the benefit of the mem- 
bers of the Choctaw ami Chickasaw tribes (freedmen ex- 
cepted), ami at the end of one year from the ratification of 
this agreement, and at the end of each year thereafter, the 
funds so accumulated shall he divided and paid to the 
Choctaws and Chickasaws (freedmen excepted), each mem- 
ber of the two tribes to receive an equal portion thereof. 

Tlmt no law or ordinance shall be passed by any town 
which interferes with the enforcement of or is in conflict 
with the laws of the United States in force in said terri- 
tory, and all persons in such towns shall be subject to said 
laws, and the United States agrees to maintain strict laws 
'" ,l "' territory of the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes 
against the introduction, sale, barter or giving away of 
liquors ami intoxicants of any kind or quality. 

Thai said Commissiou shall be authorized to locale 
within a suitable distance from each town site, not to ex- 
ceed five acres to be used as a cemetery, and when any 
town has paid into the United States Treasury, to be part 
of the fund arising from the sale of town lots, ten dollars 
per acre therefor, such town shall be entitled to a patent 
for the same as herein provided for titles to allottees, and 
shall dispose of same at reasonable prices in suitable lots 
for burial purposes, the proceeds derived from such sales 
to be applied by the town government for the proper im- 
provement and care of said cemetery. 

That no charge or claim shall be made against the 
Choctaw or Chickasaw tribes by the United States for the 
expenses of surveying and platting the lands and town 
sites, or for grading, appraising and allotting the lands, 



208 Treaties and Laws 

or for appraising and disposing of the town lots as herein 
provided. 

That the land adjacent to Fort Smith and lands for 
court houses, jails and other public purposes, excepted 
from allotment shall be disposed of in the same manner 
and for the same purposes as provided for town lots here- 
in, but not till the Choctaw and Chickasaw councils shall 
direct such disposition to be made thereof, and said land 
adjacent thereto shall be placed under the jurisdiction of 
the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas, for police purposes. 

There shall be set apart and exempted from appraise- 
ment and sale in the towns, lots upon which churches and 
parsonages are now built and occupied, not to exceed fifty 
feet front and one hundred feet deep for each church or 
parsonage: Provided, That such lots shall only be used 
for churches and parsonages, and when they cease to be 
used shall revert to the members of the tribes to be dis- 
posed of as other town lots: Provided further, That these 
lots may be sold by the churches for which they are set 
apart if the purchase money therefor is invested in other 
lot or lots in the same town, to be used for the same pur- 
pose and with the same conditions and limitations. 

It is agreed that all the coal and asphalt within the 
limits of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations shall remain 
and be the common property of the members of the Choc- 
taw and Chickasaw tribes (freedmen excepted), so that each 
and every member shall have an equal and undivided inter- 
est in the whole; and no patent provided for in this agree- 
ment shall convey any title thereto. The revenues from 
coal and asphalt, or so much as shall be necessary, shall be 
used for the education of the children of Indian blood of 
the members of said tribes. Such coal and asphalt mines 
as are now in operation, and all others which may here- 
after be leased and operated, shall be under the super- 
vision and control of two trustees, who shall be appointed 
by the President of the United States, one on the recom- 



Indian Territory 209 

mendation of the Principal Chief of the Choctaw nation,, 
who shall be a Choctaw by blood, whose term shall be for 
four years, and one on the recommendation of the Gov- 
ernor of the Chickasaw nation, who shall be a Chickasaw 
by blood, whose term shall be for two years; after which 
the term of appointees shall be four years. Said trus- 
tees, or either of them, may, at any time, be removed by 
the President of the United States for good cause shown. 
They shall each give bond for the faithful performance of 
their duties, under such rules as may be prescribed by 
the Secretary of the Interior. Their salaries shall be 
fixed and paid by their respective nations, each of whom 
shall make full report of all his acts to the Secretary of 
the Interior quarterly. All such acts shall be subject to 
the approval of said Secretary. 

All coal and asphalt mines in the two nations, whether 
now developed, or to be hereafter developed, shall be oper- 
ated, and the royalties therefrom paid into the Treasury 
of the United States, and shall be drawn therefrom under 
such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the 
Secretary of the Interior. 

All contracts made by the national agents of the Choc- 
taw and Chickasaw nations for operating coal and asphalt,, 
with any person or corporation which were, on April twen- 
ty-third, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, being oper- 
ated in good faith are hereby ratified and confirmed, and 
the lessee shall have the right to renew the same when 
they expire, subject to all the provisions of this act. 

All agreements heretofore made by any person or cor- 
poration with any member or members of the Choctaw or 
Chickasaw nations, the object of which was to obtain such 
member or members' permission to operate coal or asphalt, 
are hereby declared void: Provided, That nothing herein 
contained shall impair the rights of any holder or owner of 
a leasehold interest in any oil, coal rights, asphalt or min- 
eral which have been assented to by act of Congress, but 



210 Treaties .and Laws 

all such interests shall continue unimpaired hereby and 
shall be assured by new leases from such trustees of coal op 
asphalt claims described therein, by application to the 

trustees within six months after the ratification of this 
agreement, subject, however, to payment of advance roy- 
alties herein provided for. 

All leases under this agreement shall include the coal 
or asphaltum, or other mineral, as the case may be, in or 

under nine hundred and sixty acres, which shall be in a 
square as nearly as possible, and shall be for thirty years. 
The royalty on coal shall be fifteen cents per. ton of two 
thousand pounds on all coal mined, payable on the 25th 
day of the month next succeeding that in which it is mined. 
Royalty on asphalt shall be sixty cents per ton, payable 
same as coal: Provided, That the Secretary of the In- 
terior may reduce or advance royalties on coal and asphalt 
when he deems it for the best interests of the Choctaws 
and Chickasaws to do so. No royalties shall be paid ex- 
cept into the United States Treasury, as herein provided. 

All lessees shall pay on each coal or asphalt claim at 
the rate of one hundred dollars per annum, in advance, for 
the first and second years, two hundred dollars per an- 
num, in advance, for the third and fourth years, and five 
hundred dollars for each succeeding year thereafter. All 
such payments shall be treated as advanced royalty on the 
mine or claim on which they are made, and shall be a 
credit as royalty when each said mine is developed and 
operated, and its production is in excess of such guaran- 
teed annual advance payments, and all persons having coal 
lease must pay said annual advanced payments on each 
claim whether developed or undveloped: Provided, how- 
ever, That should any lessee neglect or refuse to pay such 
advanced annual royalty for the period of sixty days after 
the same becomes due and payable on any lease, the lease 
on which default is made shall become null and void, and 
the royalty paid in advance thereon shall then become and 



Indian Territory 211 

be the money and property of the Choctaw and Chickasaw 
nations. 

In surface, the use of which is reserved to present coal 
operators, shall he included such lots in towns as are oc- 
cupied l)v lessees' houses — either occupied by said lessees' 
employes, or as offices or warehouses: Provided, however, 
That in those town sites designated and laid out under the 
provision of this agreement where coal leases are now be- 
ing operated and coal is being mined, there shall be re- 
served from appraisement and sale all lots occupied by 
houses of miners actually engaged, and in addition there- 
to a sufficient amount of land to be determined by the town 
site board of appraisers, to furnish homes for the men ac- 
tually engaged in working for the lessees operating said 
mines, and a sufficient amount for all buildings and ma- 
chinery for mining purposes: And, provided further, 
That when the lessees shall cease to operate said mines, 
then and in that event the lots of land so reserved shall be 
disposed of by the coal trustees for the benefit of the Choc- 
taw and Chickasaw tribes. 

That whenever the members of the Choctaw and Chick- 
asaw tribes shall be required to pay taxes for the support 
of schools, then the fund arising from such royalties shall 
be disposed of for the equal benefit to their members 
(freedmen excepted) in such manner as the tribes may 
direct. 

It is further agreed that the United States Courts 
now existing or that may hereafter be created, in the In- 
dian Territory, shall have execlusive jurisdiction of all 
controversies growing out of the titles, ownership, occupa- 
tion, possession or use of real estate, coal and asphalt in 
the territory occupied by the Choctaw and Chickasaw 
tribes; and of all persons charged with homicide, embez- 
zlement, bribery and embracery, breaches or disturbances 
of the peace, and carrying weapons, hereafter committed in 
the territory of said tribes, without reference to race or 
citizenship of the person or persons charged with such 



212 Treaties and Laws 

crime, and any citizen or officer of the Choctaw or Chicka- 
saw nations charged with such crime shall be tried, and, if 
convicted, punished us though he were a citizen or officer 
of the United States. 

And sections sixteen hundred and thirty-six to sixteen 
hundred and forty-four, inclusive, entitled "Embezzle- 
ment," and sections seventeen hundred and eleven to sev- 
enteen hundred and eighteen, inclusive, entitled "Bribery 
and Embracery," of Mansfield's Digest of the laws of Ar- 
kansas, are hereby extended over and put in force in the 
Choctaw and Chickasaw nations; and the word "Officer," 
where the same appears in said laws, shall include all of- 
ficers of tin 1 Choctaw and Chickasaw governments; and the 
fifteenth section of the Act of Congress, entitled "An Act 
to establish United States Courts in tin 1 Indian Territory, 
and other purposes," approved March first, eighteen hun- 
dred and eighty-nine, limiting jurors to citizens of tin 1 
United States, shall be held not to apply to United States 
courts in the Indian Territory held within the limits of the 
ChoctaAV and Chickasaw nations; and all members of the 
Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, otherwise qualified, shall 
be competent jurors in said courts: Provided, That when- 
ever a member of the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations is 
indicted for homicide, he made, within thirty days after 
such indictment and his arrest thereon, and before the 
same is reached for trial, file with the Clerk of the Court 
in which he is indicted, his affidavit that he cannot get a 
fair trial in said court; and it thereupon shall be the duty 
of the Judge of said Court for the western district of Ar- 
kansas, at Fort Smith, Arkansas, or to the United States 
District Court for the eastern district of Texas, at Paris, 
Texas, always selecting the court that in his judgment is 
nearest or most convenient to the place where the crime 
charged in the indictment is supposed to have been com- 
mitted, which courts shall have jurisdiction to try the 
case; and in all said civil suits said courts shall have full 



Indian Territory 213 

equity powers; and whenever it shall appear to said court, 
at any stage in the hearing of any case, that the tribe is in 
any way interested in the subject matter in controversy, it 
shall have power to summon in said tribe and make the 
same a party to the suit and proceed therein in all respects 
as if such tribe were an original party thereto; but in no 
case shall suit be instituted against the tribal government 
without its consent. 

It is further agreed that no act, ordinance or resolu- 
tion of the council of either the Choctaw or Chickasaw 
tribes, in any manner affecting the land of the tribe, or of 
the individuals after allotment, or the moneys or other 
property of the tribe or citizens thereof (except appropria- 
tions for the regular and necessary expenses of the gov- 
ernment of the respective tribes), or the rights of any per- 
sons to employ any kind of labor, or the rights of any per- 
sons who have taken or may take the oath of allegiance to 
the United States, shall be of any validity until approved 
by the President of the United States. When such acts, 
ordinances or resolutions passed by the council of either 
of said tribes shall be approved by the Governor thereof, 
then it shall be the duty of the national secretary of said 
tribe to forward them to the President of the United 
States, duly certified and sealed, Avho shall, wit in thirty 
days after their reception, approve or disapprove the same. 
Said acts, ordinances or resolutions, when so approved, 
shall be published in at least two newspapers having a 
bona fide circulation in the tribe to be affected thereby, 
and when disapproved shall be returned to the tribe enact- 
ing the same. 

It is further agreed, in view of the modification of leg- 
islative authority and jurisdiction herein provided and the 
necessity of the continuance of the tribal governments so 
modified, in order to carry out the requirements of this 
agreement, that the same shall continue for the period of 
eight years from the fourth day or" March, eighteen hun- 



214 Treaties and Lav, 

dred and ninety-eight. The stipulation is made in the be- 
lief thai the tribal government so modified will prove so 
satisfactory thai there will be do need or desire for further 
change till the lands now occupied by the five civilized 
tribes shall, in the opinion of Congress, be prepared for ad- 
mission as a Stato to the Union. Bu1 this provision shall 
not be construed to be in any respecl an abdication by Con- 
gress of power at any time to make needed rules and reg- 
ulations respecting said tribes. 

Thai all per capita payments hereafter made to the 
members of the Choctaw or Chickasaw nations shall In- 
paid directly to each individual member by a bonded officer 
of the United States, under the direction of the Secretary 
of the Interior, which officer shall be required to give strict 
account for such disbursements to said Secretary. 

That the following sum be, ami is hereby, appropri- 
ated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise ap- 
propriated, for fulfilling treaty stipulations with the Chick- 
asaw nation of Indians, namely: 

For arrears of interest at five per centum per annum, 
from December thirty-first, eighteen hundred and forty, to 
June thirtieth, eighteen hundred ami eighty-nine, on one 

hundred and eighty-four thousand one hundred and forty- 
three dollars and nine cents of the trust fund of the Chick- 
asaw nation erroneously dropped from the books of the 
United States prior to December thirty-first, eighteen hun- 
dred and forty, and restored December twenty-seventh, 
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, by the award of the 
Secretary of the Interior, under the fourth article of the 
treaty of June twenty-second, eighteen hundred and fifty- 
two, and for arrears of interest at five per centum per an- 
num, from March eleventh, eighteen hundred and fifty, to 
March third, eighteen hundred and ninety, ou fifty-six 
thousand and twenty-one dollars and forty-nine cents of 
the trust funds of the Chickasaw .nation erroneously 
dropped from the books of the United States March 



Indian Territory 215 

. icventn, eighteen hundred and fifty, and restored Decem- 
ber twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, by 
the award of the Secretary of the Interior, under the 
fourth article of the treaty of June twenty-second, eighteen 
hundred and fifty-two, five hundred and fifty-eight thou- 
sand rive hundred and twenty dollars and fifty-four cents, 
to be placed to the credit of the Chickasaw nation with the 
fund to which it properly belongs: Provided, That if there 
my attorneys' fees to be paid out of the same, on con- 
tract heretofore made and duly approved by the Secretary 
of the Interior, the same is authorized to be paid by him. 

It is further agreed that the final decision of the courts 
of the United States in the case of the 4 Choctaw nation 
and the Chickasaw nation againsl the United States and 
the Wichita and affiliated bauds of Indians now pending, 
when made, shall be conclusive as the basis of settlement 
as between the United States and said Choctaw and Chick- 
asaw nations for the remaining lands in what is known as 
the "Leased District," namely, the land lying between the 
ninety-eighth and one hundredth degrees of west longitude 
and between the lved and Canadian rivers, leased to the 
United States by tin 1 treaty of eighteen hundred and fifty- 
five, except that portion called the Cheyenne and Arap- 
pahoe country, heretofore acquired by the United States, 
and all final judgments rendered against said nations in 
any of the courts of the United States in favor of the 
United States or any citizen thereof shall first be paid out 
of any sum hereafter found due said Indians for any inter- 
est they may have in the so-called leased district. 

It is further agreed that all of the funds invested in 
lieu of investment, treaty funds or otherwise, now held by 
the United States in trust for the Choctaw and Chickasaw 
tribes, shall be capitalized within one year after the tribal 
governments shall cease, so far as the same may legally 
be done, and be appropriated and paid by some officer of 
the United States appointed for the purpose to the Choc- 



216 Treaties and Laws 

taws and Chickasaws (freedmeD excepted) per capita, to 
aid and assisl the improving of their homes and lands. 

It is further agreed that the Choctaws and Chicka- 
saws, when their tribal governments cease, shall become 
possessed of all the rights and privileges of citizens of the 
United States. 

ORPHAN LANDS. 

It is further agreed thai the Choctaw orphan lands in 
the Stale of Mississippi yet unsold, shall be taken by the 
United States at one dollar and twenty-five cents ($1.25) 
per acre, and the proceeds placed to the credit of the Choc- 
taw orphan fund in the treasury of the United Slates, the; 
number of acres to be determined bv the general land 
office. 

In itness whereof the said Commissioners do here- 
unto affix their names at Atoka, Indian Territory; this, the, 
twenty-third day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety- 
seven. 
GREEN M'CURTAIN, R. M. HARRIS, 

Principal Chief. Governor. 

J. S. STANDLEY, ISAAC (). LEWIS, 

N. B. AINSWORTH, EOLMES COLBERT, 

BEN HAPTON, ROBERT L. MURRAY, 

WESLEY ANDERSON, WILLIAM PERRY, 

AMOS HENRY, R. L. BOYD, 

D. C. GARLAND, Chickasaw Commission. 

Choctaw Commission. 

FRANK C. ARMSTRONG, 

Acting Chairman, 
ARCHIBALD S. M'KENNON, 
THOMAS B. CABANISS, 
ALEXANDER B. MONTGOMERY, 
Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes. 
H. M. JACOWAY, JR., 

Secretary Five Tribes' Commission. 
Approved June 28, 1898. 



Chapter XVI. 

APPLICATION OP THE TREATIES AND LAWS TO EACH NATION. 

CREEK NATION. 

Under the treaty with the Creek Indians all lands be- 
longing to the Creek nation, except the town sites and 
lands reserved for Creek schools and public buildings, are 
to be appraised at their true value, exclusive of improve- 
ments on lands in actual cultivation. The appraised lands 
are then to be allotted among the citizens of the tribe so 
as to give each citizen an equal share of the whole, in value. 
When the allotment is completed (which is practically 
done at this time), each citizen will have selected 160 acres 
of land, having the privilege of selecting such land so as to 
include the improvements that belong to him. 

One hundred and sixty acres of land, valued at $0.50 
per acre, constitute the standard value of an allotment, and 
is the measure for the equalization of values. Any allot- 
tee receiving lands of less than standard value of an al- 
lotment may select other lands, which, at their appraised 
value, will bring his allotment up to the fixed standard. 
If any selected allotment, at its appraised value, exceeds 
the fixed standard the excess value of his allotment is 
charged against him and deducted from his share in the fu- 
ture distributions of the funds of the tribe until his excess 
valuation of allotment is paid in full. If his portion of the 
distributive funds of the tribe should be insufficient to pay 
the excess valuation, then it becomes a lien upon the rents 
and profits of his allotment until paid. A citizen, how- 
ever, has the privilege of paying into the funds of the tribe, 
in money, the amount of any excess valuation of his allot- 
ment. 

Allotments for minors are selected by parents or 
guardian, and cannot be sold during their minority. 



Indian Territory 219 

Allotments for prisoners, convicts and aged and in- 
firm persons are selected by their appointed agents. 

Allotments for incompetents are selected by guar- 
dians, curators or persons of kin. 

A citizen who has been holding more land than he and 
his family are entitled to must make a selection of that 
amount of such land as he is entitled to hold for himself, 
wife and minor children. If he have lawful improvements 
upon such excess holding he may sell such improvements 
to any other citizen, or he may remove the improvements 
if he desires. Any allottee selecting an allotment from 
the excessive holdings of another citizen must pay that cit- 
izen the value of the improvements as appraised by the 
appraisement committee provided for by the treaty, and 
this amount shall be a lien upon the land until paid. 

All controversies arising between citizens as to their 
rights to select certain tracts of land are determined by the 
Commission to the five civilized tribes. 

Lands allotted to Creek citizens cannot be incumbered, 
taken or sold, to satisfy any debt or obligation contracted 
or incurred prior to the date of the deed issued to the al- 
lottee. Such lands are not alienable by the allottee or his 
heirs until after five years from the ratification of the 
treaty (May 25, 1901,) except with the approval of the Sec- 
retary of the Interior. Each allottee must select from 
his allotment forty acres of land, which he cannot sell or 
dispose of, but must retain as a homestead, and which he 
cannot incumber, and which is not taxable for twenty-one 
years. He may, however, sell, incumber or dispose of 
the residue of his allotment, over and above the forty-acre 
homestead, without restriction after five years, and prior 
to that time with the approval of the Secretary of the In- 
terior. The homestead of each citizen in case of the death 
of the allottee, remains for the use and support of children 
born after the ratification of the treatv. In case there are 



220 Application of Treaties 

no children he may dispose of it by will, or in case no will 
exists it goes to his heirs without limitation. 

The Secretary of the Interior must, through the In- 
dian agent of the territory, place each citizen in unre- 
stricted possession of his land when he has made his selec- 
tion and receiyed his certificate of allotment. 

After each citizen has receiyed his allotment of 160 
acres, the residue of lands not reserved or otherwise dis- 
posed of, and all funds accruing under the provisions of 
the treaty, are to be used for the purpose of equalizing al- 
lotments, and if they are not sufficient any other funds of 
the tribe will be used, so that all allotments may be made, 
as near as may be, equal in value. 

All towns in the Creek nation that had a population of 
two hundred people or more at the date of the treaty 
(March 8, 1900,) must, and all other towns may be, sur- 
veyed, laid out, platted into town lots, streets, alleys and 
parks, by the Secretary of the Interior under such rules 
and regulations as he may prescribe. 

The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to appoint 
a Town Site Commission consisting of three members, one 
of whom must be a citizen of the nation. After the ap- 
proval of the surveying, platting, etc., by the Secretary of 
the Interior, it is the duty of the Town Site Commission to 
appraise and sell the town lots for the benefit of the tribe. 
The judgment of any two members governs in appraising; 
if no two agree the matter is determined by the Secretary. 
When public interest justifies a separate Town Site Com- 
mission may be appointed for any town. The Secretary 
of the Interior may at his discretion permit any town to 
make its own survey, plat, etc., subject to his approval. 

The Secretary of the Interior may, for cause, remove 
any Town Site Commissioner, and fill the vacancy by ap- 
pointment in the same manner as the place was originally 
tilled. 



Indian Territory 221 

Town site limits may be so established as to best sub- 
serve the present needs and reasonable prospective growth 
of the town. 

When recommended by the Commission to the five 
civilized tribes, the Secretary of the Interior may reserve 
from allotments any land, not exceeding 160 acres in one 
tract for town sites, for railroad stations as are or shall be 
established on any line of railroad, either already con- 
structed, or in process of construction without any refer- 
ence to the population of such town site. When such land 
is occupied by a citizen of the nation he shall be fully com- 
pensated for his improvements. 

Any person occupying any town lot with permanent 
improvement upon it has the right to purchase such lot by 
paying one-half of the appraised value of the lot, but he 
must make the first payment within sixty days after no- 
tice of the appraised value of his lot, or the lot and im- 
provements may be sold at auction, under the direction of 
the Town Site Commission at a price not less than their 
appraised value, the purchaser paying to the owner of the 
improvements the price thereof less the appraised value of 
the lot. 

Any person having the right of occupancy of one busi- 
ness and one residence lot in any town, and not owning any 
other land in that town, has the privilege of purchasing 
such business and residence lots at one-half the appraised 
value, although they may have no improvements thereon. 

Any person who may have purchased any lot or parcel 
of land not exceeding four acres, in any town, from any 
one in legal possession at - the time, and prior to the date 
of the Creek agreement, has the right to purchase such 
land at one-half its appraised value. 

All town lots, having no improvements upon them, 
and not otherwise specifically provided for, are sold by the 
Town Site Commission at public auction, from time to time, 



222 Application of Treaties 

after advertising the sale, a1 not less than their appraised 

value. 

Any person having the right of occupancy of lands in 
any (own which lias been or may be laid out Into town lots 
to be sold at public auction, has the righl to purchase one- 
fourth of all lots into which such lands have been divided 
at two-thirds of their appraised value. 

When any town lot, upon which are improvements, 
has been appraised, the Town Site Commission notifies the 
owner of the improvements of tin 4 amount of the appraise- 
ment of the lot, and he must within sixty days from date 
of that notice, make payment of ten per cent, of the amount 
due for tin 1 lot, and four months thereafter must make 
an additional payment of fifteen per cent, of the amount, 
and the remainder of the purchase money is paid in three 
annual payments without interest. Payments for unim- 
proved lots are made in the same manner and upon the 
same terms as for improved lots. 

A purchaser has the privilege in either case of paying 
the entire amount due at any time. In case any pay- 
ment is not made when due it bears interest at ten per cent. 
per annum, until paid. 

All town lots purchased under the provisions of the 
agreement are free from incumbrance by any debt con- 
tracted prior to the date of the deed. All deferred pay- 
ments constitute a lien upon the property for which the 
debt was contracted, and if payment is due and unpaid at 
the end of two years from the date of the fifteen per cent, 
payment, the lien for the payment of all purchase money 
remaining unpaid may be enforced in the United States 
Court in the same manner as vendors' liens are enforced, 
the suit to be brought in the name of the Principal Chief 
for the benefit of the tribe. 

No taxes can be assessed against any unsold town lot, 
but can be assessed against any lot upon which any pay- 
ment has been made, and all taxes so assessed become a 



Indian Territory 223 

lien upon the interests of the purchaser in such lot, and in 
case of the forfeiture of the lot all taxes assessed against 
that lot are paid out of any money the purchaser may have 
paid on the lot. 

Towns ha ye the right to purchase land for cemetery 
purposes, may dispose of burial lots and apply the pro- 
ceeds for the improvement of the property. 

The United States may purchase land for court 
houses, jails and other public buildings at its appraised 
value, paying for any improvements that may be upon the 
land selected. 

All schools and institutions of learning located in cor* 
porated towns may purchase the lots or parcels of land 
they occupy at one-half their appraised value. 

Town lots or parts of lots not exceeding fifty by one 
hundred and fifty feet, upon which church houses and par- 
sonages have been erected, are conveyed gratuitously, and 
if they have adjoining lots enclosed necessary for their use, 
the churches can purchase such lots at one-half their ap- 
praised value. 

The Secretary of the Interior furnishes the Principal 
Chief of the Creek nation with the blank deeds necessary 
for all the conveyances provided for in the treaty. The 
Principal Chief issues the deeds to each allottee for the 
lands embraced in his allotment certificate, and for lands 
to which he becomes entitled in the equalization of his al- 
lotment. The deed transfers all right, title and interest 
of the Creek nation in the land deeded, and in accepting 
the deed the allottee relinquishes all his individual right, in- 
terest and title to the lands of the tribe, except in the pro- 
ceeds of lands reserved from allotment. Deeds to town lots 
are issued in like manner. All deeds are to be approved 
by the Secretary of the Interior and its approval serves as 
a relinquishment of all right, title and interest in the 
United States in the lands embraced in the deed. 



224 Application of Treaties 

All deeds after execution and approval are filed in the 
office of the Commission to the five civilized tribes without 
expense to the grantee. 

The following lands are reserved from the general al- 
lotment: All Lands set apart for town sites; all lands to 
which any railroad company may have a vested right for 
light of ways, depots, station grounds, water stations, 
stock yards or for similar uses in the maintenance and 
operation of the road; lands for certain schools and char- 
itable institutions; lands for town cemeteries; lands oc- 
cupied by the university established by the American Home 
.Missionary Society, one acre each for six Creek court 
houses and one acre each for all churches and schools out- 
side of towns, used regularly as such. 

Municipal corporations are authorized, with the ap- 
proval of the Secretary of the Interior, to isue bonds and 
borrow money thereon, for sanitary purposes, the construe- 
tion of sewers, lightiug plants, water works and school 
houses. 

All moneys paid to the tribe under the provisions of 
the treaty are paid into the United States Treasury to the 
credit of the tribe and all money expended for the pur- 
poses of equalizing allotments, or other provisions of the 
agreement, are paid under the direction of the Secretary 
of the Interior. 

The United States pays all expenses of surveying, 
platting, disposition of the town lots and allotments of 
lauds, except where special permission is given to towns to 
survey and plat at their own expense. 

Creek citizens may rent their own allotments, when 
selected from year to year, and after they receive their 
deeds they rnay rent without any restrictions, providing 
adjoining allotments are not injured thereby. 

Cattle may be grazed on leased allotted lands and not 
be subject to any tribal tax, but when grazed on lands that 
have not been allotted the Secretarv of the Interior is au- 



Indian Territory 225 

thorized to collect a reasonable grazing tax for the benefit 
of the tribe. As at this time the Creek lands are prac- 
tically all allotted this provision is not of any particular 
force. 

No non-citizen renting lands from a Creek citizen, 
whether such lands have been selected as an allotment or 
not, shall be required to pay any permit tax. 

The tribal government of the Creek nation cannot con- 
tinue longer than .March 4, 1906, subject to such further 
legislation as Congress may decree proper. 

Section fourteen of the Curtis act (June 28, 1898,) is in 
force as to its application to the Creek nation, but all other 
provisions of this act in no way applies when inconsistent 
with the Creek treaty. This section provides that any town 
or city in the territory, having two hundred or more peo- 
ple, may petition the United States Court for corporation, 
and become incorporated as provided for in chapter twen- 
nine of Mansfield's Digest of the Statutes of Arkansas, the 
Clerk of the Court performing all the acts required of the 
recorder of the Clerk of the County Court, or the Secretary 
of State, necessary for the corporation of the town as pro- 
vided in the Mansfield's Digest. When a town is so in- 
corporated it possesses all the powers and exercises all 
the rights possessed and exercised by the municipalities in 
the State of Arkansas. All male inhabitants of the town 
who are citizens of the United States, or of the tribes, who 
are over twenty-one years old, and have resided in the 
town for six months prior to any election, are qualified 
voters. The mayors of the towns have the same jurisdic- 
tion in civil and criminal cases arising within the limits of 
the towns as the United States Commissioners in the ter- 
ritory. 

The provisions of section thirteen of the Curtis act 
do not apply to or in any manner affect the lands or other 
property of the Creek nation. The provisions of this sec- 



226 Application of Treaties 



tion pertain to the leasing of oil, coal, asphalt and other 
mineral lands. 

After allotment is made the Principal Chief of the 
Choctaw nation and the Governor of the Chickasaw nation 
will issue a deed jointly to each allottee, conveying to him 
all the right, title and interest of the nations in the land 
transferred by the deed, and the allottee, in accepting the 
deed, relinquishes his right, title and interest in all other 
lands of the nation except his interest in such reservations 
as are excepted from division. No title, however, is given 
by the deed for any coal or asphalt that may exist under 
his land. 

The Atoka agreement provides for the appointment of 
a Town Site Commission for each of the nations, consisting 
of two members, one representing the government and one 
the nation. The Commissions are authorized to lay out 
town sites, to be restricted as far as possible to the present 
limits of existing towns. They are to prepare proper 
plats of each town, to be approved by the Secretary of the 
Interior. The lots in all towns are appraised by the Town 
Site Commissions, exclusive of any improvements that have 
been placed on them. The owner of the improvements has 
the right to buy one residence and one business lot at one- 
half the appraised value, and all the other lots upon which 
he may have improvements at sixty-two and one-half per 
cent, of the appraised value, within sixty days from the 
date of the notice served by the Commissions that such lots 
are for sale. Within ten days from his purchase he must 
pay one-fourth of the purchase price and pay the balance in 
three annual payments. When the last payment is made 
he receives his deed for the lot. 

If the owner of the improvements on any lot fails to 
purchase and make the first payment, the lot, with the im- 
provements, is sold at auction by the Town Site Commis- 
sions and the purchaser pays the owner of the improve- 
ments the amount the lot is sold for. 



Indian Territory 227 

Each member of these nations, including the freed- 
men, have the right to select their allotments so as to in- 
clude the improvements each one may own, but the im- 
provements are not taken into consideration in appraising 
the land. 

Allotments for minor children are to be selected by 
the parents, guardian or the administrator of an estate, 
and such allotments cannot be sold during minority; allot- 
ments for prisoners, convicts and incompetents are se- 
lected by some person akin to them. 

All allotments are non-taxable for twenty-one years, 
provided the title remains in the original allottee. Each 
allottee must select a homestead of 160 acres, for which 
a separate deed is issued and which he cannot dispose of 
for twenty-one years. This provision also applies to the 
freedmen for the whole of his allotment. The remainder 
of the lands allotted to each member may be disposed of 
by the allottee for a price to be actually paid, and not to 
include any former indebtedness; one-fourth of the land 
may be sold in one year, one-fourth in three years and the 
balance in five years from the date of the deed. 

Any contract for sale, or any incumbrance except as 
stated, is declared void. 

An allottee may lease any portion of his land for any 
period not exceeding five years, but all leases to be effec- 
tive, must be recorded in the office of the Clerk of the 
United States Court in the district in which the land is lo- 
cated. 

All contests arising between members of the tribes as 
to selection of allotments are decided by the Commission. 
The United States puts each allottee in possession of his 
land and removes all parties who have no right there. 

THE CHICKASAW AXD CHOCTAW NATIONS. 

The Atoka agreement is a treaty with the Chickasaw 
and the Choctaw tribes jointly, its provisions affecting 



228 Application of Treaties 

both nations alike. Under this agreement all lands of 
the two tribes are to be divided between their members, 
each one to receive an equal share, considering the char- 
acter and fertility of the soil, and the location and value 
of the lands. There is no fixed standard of value in these 
nations as there is in the Creek nation, but the lands will 
be allotted by the Commission to the five civilized tribes 
to give en eh one the same value in land. 

All town sites, lands for educational and charitable in- 
stitutions, ten acres for the Capitol Building of the Choc- 
taw nation,' five acres for the Capitol Building of the 
Chickasaw nation, one acre for each school house outside 
of towns, court houses, jails and other public buildings, in- 
cluding some special reservations, are reserved from allot- 
ment. All coal and asphalt in or under all the lands of 
these nations is reserved for the benefit of the members of 
the tribes. When coal or asphalt is opened up on lands 
the value of the use of the surface for prospecting or min- 
ing, and the damage done to the other land. and improve- 
ments, must be paid to the owner of the land by the party 
operating, before commencing work, the damages to be de- 
termined under the direction of the Secretary of the In- 
terior. 

The agreement provides that the Commission to the 
five civilized tribes shall make a correct roll of the freed- 
men and their descendants, entitled to rights or benefits 
under former treaties, and forty acres of land, including 
their present improvements, shall be allotted to each, to 
be selected and used by them until their rights shall be 
determined as Congress may provide for, less sixty-two and 
one-half per cent, of the appraised value of the lot, which is 
paid into the United States Treasury in the same manner 
as other payments for lots are made. 

Unimproved lots are not appraised in these nations, 
but are sold at public auction to the highest bidder at such 
times, after advertising, as in the judgment of the Town 



Indian Territory 229 

Site Commissions seems to be for the best interest of the 
nations and the good of the towns. The Commissions 
have the right to reject all bids which they consider below 
the value of the lots. Payments are made in the same 
manner and on the same terms as for improved lots. 

Failure for sixty days to make any payment causes a 
forfeiture of all payments that may have been made, and 
all right under the contract, but any purchaser has the 
privilege of paying the entire amount any time before it is 
due. 

No taxes can be assessed by any town against any un- 
sold lot, and no taxes assessed against a lot that has been 
sold becomes a lien upon the lot until the purchase price 
has been fully paid. 

The money paid into the treasury from the sale of 
town lots is for the benefit of the members of each nation. 

Towns have the right to purchase land for cemetery 
purposes, not to exceed five acres, at the price of ten dol- 
lars per acre, and divide such land into suitable burial lots 
and dispose of such lots, using the proceeds for the im- 
provement of the cemetery. 

The United States government bears all expense of 
surveying and platting lands for town sites, for appraising 
and allotting the lands, or for appraising and disposing of 
town lots. 

Town lots upon which churches and parsonages are 
now built, not to exceed fifty by one hundred feet for each 
church or parsonage, are exempted from appraisement and 
sale so long as they are used for such purposes, If they 
cease to be so used the lots revert to the tribes, to be dis- 
posed of as other town lots are. 

The agreement provides that all coal and asphalt in 
the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations be the common prop- 
erty of the members of the two nations, not including the 
freedmen, each member having an undivided interest in 
the whole. Such an amount of revenue derived from coal 



330 Application of Treaties 



and asphalt as may be necessary is used for the education 
of the Indian children of the nations. 

All coal and asphalt mines are under the supervision 
of two trustees, one a Choctaw and one a Chickasaw, who 
give bond, and perform their duties under rules prescribed 
by the Secretary of the Interior, and to whom their reports 
are made, and all their acts are subject to his approyal. 

All leases on coal, asphalt or other mineral, as the case 
may be, cover the coal, asphalt or mineral, in or under 960 
acres of land, in a body as nearly square as may be, and 
run for thirty years. Royalty on coal is placed at fifteen 
cents per ton and sixty cents per ton on asphalt, but these 
royalties may be reduced or advanced by the Secretary 
of the Interior at his discretion. 

All lessees on each coal or asphalt claim shall make an 
advance payment of one hundred dollars per annum for the 
first and second years, two hundred dollars per annum for 
the third and fourth years, and five hundred dollars for 
each succeeding year. These payments to be d 'ducted 
from royalty ' payments when the latter exceed the ad- 
vanced payments named. In case of default for sixty 
days, to make these advance payments the lease becomes 
null and void and any payments made are forfeited to ti e 
nations. 

In towns where coal is now being mined, and coajf 
leases are operated, there is reserved from cippraisenient 
and sale all lots on which are houses of miners actually 
engaged in mining, and in addition thereto a sufficient 
amount of land to furnish homes for the men actually en- 
gaged in operating the mines under the lessees, as well 
as sufficient ground for warehouses, offices, buildings and 
machinery. When such land and lots cease to be used 
for thac purpose they are to be disposed of for the benefit 
of the tribes. 

The agreement provides that no act, ordinance or res- 
olution of the council of either nation, in any manner af- 



Indian Territory 231 

fecting the land of the tribes, or of the individuals, after 
allotment, or the moneys or property of the tribe, or cit- 
izens (except for the appropriations for regular expenses 
of the governments of the tribes), or the rights of any per- 
son to employ any kind of labor, shall have any validity 
until such acts, ordinances or resolutions have been ap- 
proved by the President of the United States. 

The tribal governments will cease to exist on March 4. 
1900. 

It is provided by the agreement that when the tribal 
governments cease to exist the Choctkws and Chickasaws 
shall become possessed of all the rights and privileges of 
citizens of the United States. 

The Choctaw orphan lands in the State of Mississippi 
are to be taken by the United States at $1.25 per acre, and 
the amount placed to the credit of the Choctaw orphan 
fund in the United States Treasury. 

THE SEMINOLE NATION. 

The treaty with the Seminole tribe provides that all 
the lands belonging to the Seminole Indians shall be di- 
vided into three clases, the first to be appraised 'at |5 
per acre, the second class at $2.50 per acre and the third 
class at f 1.25 per acre. This is the only treaty that pro- 
vides for a stipulated valuation of lands. These lands 
are to be divided among the members of the tribe so that 
each shall have an equal share in value, the location and 
fertility of soil considered. Each member has the right 
to select his allotment so as to include the improvements 
owned by him. After allotment each member has the 
sole right of occupancy of the land allotted to him during 
the existence of the tribal government and until the mem- 
bers of the tribe have become citizens of the United States. 

Allotments in the nation, as in all the others, are made 
by the Commission to the live civilized tribes, who issue a 
certificate describing the land allotted. 



232 Application of Treaties 



Contracts for sale, or any incumbrance of any kind, 
prior to the date of the deed to the allotment are absolute- 
ly void, but any allottee may lease any portion or all of 
liis allotment for any time not exceeding six years. The 
lease must be approved by the Principal Chief and a copy 
filed in the office of the Clerk of the United States Court 
at Wewoka, the capital of the Seminole nation. Leases 
of coal, mineral, oil or gas lands must be made with the 
tribal government with the consent of the allottee and to 
be approved by the Secretary of the Interior. When any 
coal, oil, gas or mineral is discovered upon the allotment 
of any member of the tribe, and it is operated to produce 
royalty, one-half of the royalty is paid to the allottee and 
one-half is paid into the treasury of the tribe until the 
tribal government ceases to exist, the latter to be used for 
equalizing allotments. Any funds of the tribe after <\\- 
tinguishment of the tribal government can be used to 
equalize allotments until each allotment is made equal in 
value. Five hundred thousand dollars of the funds of 
the Seminole nation held by the United States govern- 
ment is set aside as a permanent school fund, the proceeds 
of which at five per cent, interest are to be used for the 
education of the children of the tribe until the tribal gov 
eminent ceases, after which it is to be applied by the Sec- 
retary of the Interior to the maintenance of the Mekasuky 
and Emahaka academies and the district schools of the 
Seminole nation. There is reserved from allotment 320 
acres of land for each of these academies and SO acres for 
each of the eight school districts in the nation. 

There is reserved from allotment one-half acre for each 
church in the nation, now existing or hereafter established, 
so long as it is used for church purposes, but when it ceases 
to be used for such purposes it reverts to the nation. 

One acre in each township is excepted from allotment 
which may be purchased by the United States for the pur- 



Indian Territory 233 

pose of establishing schools for the education of children 
of non-members of the tribe. 

At the close of tribal government the Principal Chief 
is to execute and deliver to each allottee a deed for his 
allotment conveying all the right, title and interest of the 
nation and its members in the land embraced in the deed, 
and the approval of the Secretary of the Interior releases 
all right, title and interest of the United States govern- 
ment, while the acceptance of the deed by the allottee re- 
linquishes all the right, title and interest in all other lands 
of the tribe except such as may have been excepted from 
allotment, to be held in common for other purposes. 

Each allottee must designate forty acres of his allot- 
ment as a homestead, which is non-taxable and inalienable 
in perpetuity. 

After equalizing the value of all allotments, and re- 
serving the $500 school fund, all moneys belonging to the 
Seminole nation are to be divided per capita, in three pay- 
ments, among the members of the tribe, the first payment 
to be made after tribal government ceases, and the others 
one and two years later. 

Regular terms of the United States Court are held at 
Wewoka. 

THE CHEROKEE NATION. 

The Cherokee nation, having no new treaty or agree- 
ment with the United States, comes under the provisions 
of the Curtis act (June 28, 1898), and where the treaty stip- 
ulations of the other nations do not conflict with the Cur- 
tis act it applies to them as well, but the treaties take pre- 
cedence over his act. 

Under the Curtis act the surface of the lands of the 
Cherokee nation, through the Commission to the ^ye civ- 
ilized tribes, is to be allotted to the exclusive use and oc- 
cupancy of the members of the tribe, giving to each his 
fair and equal share thereof, considering the fertility of 



234 Application of Treaties 



the soil, location, and the value of the same; but all oil, 
coal, asphalt and mineral deposits in the lands arc re- 
served to the tribe and allotments will not carry title to 
the deposits named. All town sites are reserved from al- 
lotment. Reservations arc also made for lands occupied 
by churches, schools, parsonages, charitable institutions 
and other public buildings, for their necessary use, not to 
exceed more than one acre for each church or five acres for 
each school now established or to be established. Land 
for cemetery purposes is also reserved. 

An allottee may select lands upon which his improve- 
ments are located. All allotted lands arc non-transfer- 
able and non-taxable until full title is acquired, and an 
obligation contracted prior to acquiring title will not hold 
as against an allotment. 

All incorporated towns may secure the lands necessary 
for public improvements, regardless of tribal lines, by 
means of condemnation, or otherwise, and when condem- 
nation proceedings are necessary they may be brought un- 
der sections 907 to 912, inclusive, of Mansfield's Digest of 
the statutes of Arkansas. 

Leases covering oil, coal, asphalt and other minerals 
may be made by the Secretary of the Interior, under such 
rules and regulations as he may direct, for any time not 
exceeding fifteen years for an original lease or for renewal 
thereof. No such lease can cover the mineral in more 
than 640 acres of land conforming as nearly as possible to 
regular surveys. Lessees must pay in advance on each 
lease flOO per annum for the first and second years; §200 
per annum for the third and fourth years, and $500 per 
annum for each succeeding year, but these payments are 
deducted from the royalties when they exceed, in any year, 
the amounts named. These advance payments must be 
made whether the mines are developed or not. Default of 
payment for sixty days cancels the lease and forfeits the 
advance payments. Damages to the surface of the land 



Indian Territory 235 

by reason of operating a lease are ascertained under direc- 
tion of the Secretary of the Interior and must be paid to 
the allottee or owner o'f the land before operations com- 
mence. The rate of royalty to be paid by lessees is fixed 
by the Secretary of the Interior. The inhabitants in any 
town in the Cherokee nation may petition the United States 
court for incorporation and become incorporated as is pro- 
vided in chapter twenty-nine of Mansfield's Digest. The 
town government when so organized possesses all the pow- 
ers and exercises all the rights of similar municipalities in 
the State of Arkansas. All male inhabitants over twen- 
ty-one years old, who are citizens of the United States, or 
of the tribe, who have resided in the town for six months, 
are qualified voters. Mayors exercise the same jurisdic- 
tion in civil or criminal cases, arising within the limits of 
the town, as United States Commissioners in the Indian 
Territory. The marshal, or other executive officer, has the 
same jurisdiction as constables have under the laws in 
force in the territory. 

City or town governments cannot tax any lands in the 
city or town prior to the acquiring of title from the tribe, 
but all other property, including the improvements on 
town lots, together with all occupations and privileges, are 
subject to taxation, and for support of the town, schools 
and other public purposes the councils may levy an annua 1 , 
tax upon such property not to exceed two per centum of 
the assessed value. The councils may establish and main- 
tain free schools under the provisions of sections 6258 to 
0276, inclusive, of Mansfield's Digest of the statutes of Ar- 
kansas, and may exercise the powers conferred upon spe- 
cial school districts in the cities and towms of that State. 

The owners and holders of leases, or improvements in 
any town are privileged to transfer the same. 

Towm Site Commissions, consisting of one person rep- 
resenting the government, one the Cherokee nation and one 
the town, are provided for, who shall cause to be surveyed. 



236 Application of Treaties 

and laid on (, I own sites for all towns thai had a population 
of two hundred people at the time of the passage of tin- 
Curtis act. Provision is made for streets, alleys, public 
grounds, including parks and cemeteries, giving each town 
such territory as may bo required for its present needs and 
reasonable prospective growth. 

All town lots are to be appraised at their actual value, 
excluding improvements, for which a separate appraise- 
ment is made, such appraisements to bo approved by the 
Secretary of the Interior, and in case of disagreement as 
to valuation the Secretary fixes it. 

The owner of the improvement on any town lot may 
purchase such lot at one-halt' its appraised value, paying 
(en pei* cent, of the purchase price within two months, fif- 
teen per cent, more within six months, and the remainder 
in three annual payments after the date (> f notice of ap- 
praisement. If the owner of the improvements on a lot 
fails to make payments as provided the lot may be sold 
as unimproved lots are sold, and tin 1 purchaser may, by con- 
demnation proceedings, have tin 4 improvements appraised, 
and deposit the appraised amount with the 1 clerk of the 
court. The owner of the improvements must accept tin- 
deposit in full payment or remove his improvements with- 
in a time to be fixed by the court. 

All unimproved lots are appraised and sold at pub- 
lic auction to the highest bidder for not less than their ap- 
praised value, unless otherwise ordered by the Secretary of 
the Interior. Payment is made in the same manner as 
for improved lots. 

The inhabitants of any town may, within one year af- 
ter the survey is made, purchase the land for parks, ceme- 
teries and other public grounds, laid out by the Town Site 
Commission, at the price of ten dollars per acre, paying 
for the same on the same terms as apply to payment for 
town lots. The tribe must authorize some person to exe- 
cute and deliver to the purchaser a deed conveying to him 



Indian Territory 237 

the title to such lots or lands. All money received from 
the sale of town lots and lands is paid into the United 
States Treasury and paid out per capita to the members of 
the tribe after title to the town propory has been perfected. 
In town sites where coal is being mined under leases, there 
is reserved from appraisement and sale all lots occupied 
by miners actually engaged in mining, but only while they 
are so engaged. There is also reserved such an amount, 
of land as is needed for houses for the employes actually 
working the mines for the lessees, and the amount neces- 
sary for buildings and machinery for mining purposes. All 
these reserved lands, however, revert to the tribe when 
they cease to be used for the purposes named. 

Members of the tribe may dispose of any timber on 
their allotments. 

No member of the tribe is permitted to enclose or hold 
possession of more 1 land than would be the share to be al- 
lotted to himself, wife and minor children. The United 
States district attorney is required to see that this pro- 
vision is enforced, the penalty being a fine of one hundred 
dollars. Each day the excessive land is held is considered 
a separate offense. 

The Commission of the five civilized tribes is directed 
to make 4 a roll of citizenship of the members of the Chero- 
kee tribe using the roll of 1880 (including freedmen) as a 
basis, and enrolling all persons now living who are found 
on the roll, and all descendants born since the date of the 
roll, to those found on the roll; and all persons who have 
been enrolled by the tribe, who have made permanent set- 
tlements in the Cherokee nation, whose parents, by reason 
of their Cherokee blood, have been admitted to citizenship, 
and who were minors when their parents were so admitted. 
This Commission is authorized to investigate the right of 
all other persons claiming citizenship, including inter-mar- 
ried white persons, enrolling such as may be entitled to 
citizenship under the Cherokee law T s. The Commission is 



238 Application -of Treaties 

directed also to make a roll of the Cherokee freedmen in 
compliance with a decree of the Court of Claims. 

Xo person can be enrolled who has not removed to and 
settled in the Cherokee nation. 

Before any allotment of lands is made the Cherokee 
nation, there must be reserved by the Commission 157,600 
acres- of land, purchased by the Delaware Indians from the 
Cherokee nation^ to be subject to the judicial determina- 
tion of the rights of the Delawares and their descendants, 
under the agreement between the Delawares and the Cher- 
okees. Suit is now pending for the adjudication of the mat- 
ter. The Delawares claim that they participate in all the 
lands, rights, privileges and immunities of the native Cher- 
okees, in all respects, while the Cherokees contend that 
thev have no right to any interest in the nation, except the 
157,G00 acres of land sold to them. 

All tribal courts in the Cherokee nation have been 
abolished. 




Chapter XVII. 

EEGULATIONS AND AMENDMENTS. 
REGULATIONS. 

(AS AMENDED JULY 10th 1903.) 

FOR THE SALE AND LEASING OF CREEK LANDS. 

The following regulations are hereby prescribed for the pur- 
pose of carrying into effect the provisions of sections 16 and 17 
of the Act of Congress approved June 30, 1902 (32 Stat., 500), 
and ratified by the Muskogee (or Creek) National Council on 
July 26, 1902. 

Section 1. Creek citizens desiring to sell such of their lands 
as they are by law authorized to sell with the approval of the 
Secretary of the Interior, may apply to the Indian agent or other 
officer in charge at the Union Agency, Muskogee, Indian Terri- 
tory, by petition, in duplicate, containing an accurate description 
of the land and improvements thereon, praying that such land 
may be sold in accordance with these regulations, stating facts 
to show title, and why it will be for the best insterest of the 
owner to sell it for a fair price, and signed by all persons or their 
legal representatives having any interest in the land. A form of 
petition has been prescribed which must be used. 

(1). When such Indian agent or other officer in charge 
shall be satisfied that the facts alleged in the petition are suffi- 
cient, he shall cause a memorandum record of the same to be 
made in a book to be kept for that purpose, and shall file the pe- 
tition in his office. The duplicate copy of such petition shall be 
immediately forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
by such agent or other officer in charge, who, before so forward- 
ing it, shall endorse thereon the date the same was received by 
him and the date the land described therein will be listed for sale. 

(2). Such agent or other officer in charge shall on each 
Monday morning post in a conspicuous place in his office, in such 
large letters and figures as shall be clearly legible, for a period 
of sixty days, a list of the lands described in petitions received 
by him during the week preceding such Monday, showing in 
separate columns the names of the owners, the description of the 
lands, the dates when listed, and the dates when the bids will be 
opened, and such list shall be accessible to the public at all 



240 Indian Territory 



times in the business hours of the office. On each Monday the 
Indian agent or other officer in charge will forward to the Com- 
missioner of Indian Affairs a complete list of all lands posted in 
his office for sale. 

(3). When any tract of land has been so listed, the Indian 
agent or other officer in charge, when competent from his general 
knowledge of the value of the land, shall visit, view, and appraise 
the same at its true value, according to his best judgment. If 
such agent or other officer is not so competent, or if it shall be 
impracticable for him to personally visit and appraise the land, 
he shall require the appraisement to be made in like manner by 
a competent officer or employee under his charge. A certificate 
of said appraisement, signed and sworn to by the person making 
it, shall be sealed and not opened until the sealed bids for that 
tract of land are opened. THE APPRAISEMENT SHALL 
NOT BE MADE PUBLIC, but no bid less than the appraised 
value shall be considered. If the appraisement is made by 
other than the agent or officer in charge such agent or 
officer in charge shall add his certification of the qualification and 
integrity of the appraiser, and that he believes the appraisement 
to be the true value of the land. 

(4). Sealed bids will be received by such agent or other 
officer in charge at his office, for any lands so listed, at any time 
before trie day on which the bids are opened. If a bidder desires 
to bid on tracts not contiguous he must submit a separate bid for 
each tract, and if he desires to purchase less than an entire tract 
offered he may submit a bid for one or more legal subdivisions 
thereof. 

(5). All such bids shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope, 
upon which must be written "Bid for Creek Land, described as 
follows," followed by the description of the land, before the same 
is deposited with the Indian agent or other officer in charge. 
Bids shall be numbered by such Indian agent or other officer in 
charge in the order in which the same shall be received by him, 
and a memorandum record of each, containing number of bid 
and description of land, shall be kept in a book suitable for that 
purpose. Each bid must be accompanied by a duly certified 
check on some solvent bank, payable to the Commissioner of In- 
dian Affairs, for the use of the grantors, for twenty per cent, of 
the amount offered, as a guarantee for the faithful performance 
by the bidder of his proposition. If the ^)id shall be accepted and 
the successful bidder shall, within reasonable time, not exceed- 



Regulations 241 



ing ten days, after due notice, fail to comply with the terms of 
his bid, such check shall be forfeited to the use of the owner of 
the lands. 

(6). The right to reject any or all bids is reserved, but in 
all cases the highest bid shall be accepted by such Indian agent or 
other officer in charge, and such acceptance shall be subject to 
the approval of the owner of the land. 

(7). Purchasers shall, before delivery of deed, pay all costs 
of conveyancing, and, in addition thereto, to cover the expenses 
of advertising, the sum of one dollar when the purchase price 
docs not exceed $1,000, and one dollar and twenty-five cents 
when the purchase price exceeds $1,000 and does not exceed 
$2,000, and one dollar and fifty cents when the purchase price 
is more than $2,000. 

(8). Bidders and other interested persons may be present 
when bids are opened. When opened the bids shall be so record- 
ed, in a book to be kept for that purpose, as to show the name of 
the bidder, description of land, amount offered, and action taken 
thereon. 

(9). Listed land not disposed of at the appointed time may, 
if the owner so desires, be relisted under the same rules as gov- 
erned its original listing, except in any case where the owner has 
refused to approve the highest bid, when such bid is deemed 
by the Indian agent or other officer in charge to be a fair price 
for the land, and in such case the land may be relisted as afore- 
said, in the discretion of the Indian agent or other officer in 
charge. 

(10). When bids are opened the certified checks accom- 
panying each shall, as soon as practicable, be returned to the 
bidder (except that accompanying the accepted bid) by the In- 
dian agent, or other officer in charge, who shall take the bidder s 
receipt for the same, of which he shall in each case make full 
report to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs without unneces- 
sary delay. 

(11). The Commissioner of Indian Affairs shall cause an 
advertisement of lands listed to be published in at least one 
weekly newspaper published at Muskogee, Indian Territory, and 
such additional weekly newspapers as he may deem advisable, 
so that each tract listed shall, as nearly as may be practicable, be 
advertised during the listed period. 

(12). The advertisement shall contain a description of the 
land as listed and shall state that sealed bids will be received) 



242 Indian Territory. 



therefor at the agency until the day when bids are to be opened, 
which day shall be clearly specified, and that such sealed bids 
must be accompanied by and contain a duly certified check on 
some solvent bank, payable to the order of the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs, for twenty per cent, of the amount of the bid, and 
that further information and a copy of rules and regulations 
applicable may be had at the Union Agency. 

(13). In addition to such advertisement the Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs shall cause public notice to be given by publica- 
tion in a newspaper published at Muskogee, that rules and regu- 
lations and any other information relative to the sale of Creek 
lands may be obtained on application to the Indian agent, Union 
Agency, Muskogee, Indian Territory, and such publication shall 
continue unitl otherwise ordered by the Commissioner of Indian 
Affairs. 

Section 2. The deed must be executed in the presence of two 
subscribing witnesses and duly acknowledged before the Indian 
agent at Union Agency, a notary public, or other officer duly 
authorized to take acknowledgment of deeds. The witnesses 
must make affidavit that the deed was in their presence read and 
fully explained to the grantor, and that he understood the nature, 
contents and effect thereof, and approved and signed the same in 
their presence. 

Section 3. Such deed when transmitted by the Indian agent, 
or other officer in charge, for the Secretary's approval, must be 
accompanied by the original petition ; the certificate of appraise- 
ment ; all bids relating to the land covered by such deed ; a duly 
certified check on a solvent bank for the full purchase price, pay- 
able to the order of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs ; and a 
full report by the Indian agent or other officer in charge of all 
proceedings previous to the execution of the deed, also — 

(1). By the certificate of the Indian agent, or officer before 
whom the deed was acknowdedged, that the contents, purpose, 
and effect of the deed were explained to and fully understood by 
the grantor or grantors, that the consideration specified in the 
deed is a fair price for the land ; that the conveyance is in every 
respect free from fraud or deception ; and that the land described 
in the deed is no part of the grantor's homestead. The affidavits 
of the grantor or grantors, and the grantee or grantees, must ac- 
company such deed, showing that there is no contract, agreement 
or understanding (written or verbal) whereby the consideration 
money or price paid for the land, or any portion thereof, is to be 



Regulations 243 



refunded to the purchaser of the deed ; nor any live stock, impli- 
ments, other articles or things are to be exchanged or taken in 
lieu of said consideration or purchase price, Or any portion there- 
of, for said lands. The deed must also be accompanied by an 
affidavit of the grantee (or grantees) stating that he (she or 
they) is not a party to any association or combination of per- 
sons to acquire the land described in the deed at less than its fair 
value, or to prevent open and fair competition in the purchase 
thereof, and that neither the grantor, nor anyone acting for him 
in his place, has been given or promised any money or other 
thing by the grantee or by anyone with his advice, consent, or 
knowledge, except the consideration named in the deed, to induce 
him to agree to such sale of his land. 

(2). When the deed has been returned to the Indian agent, 
duly approved by the Secretary of the Interior, it shall be ac- 
companied by the certified check for the purchase price duly en- 
dorsed, with appropriate instructions from the Commissioner of 
Indian Affairs to the Indian agent relative to the delivery of the 
deed to the grantee and the payment of the purchase price to the 
grantor. The Indian agent in reporting on deeds will be careful 
to show the value of the land, as appraised by the Commission of 
the Five Civilized Tribes, in order that the Department may 
know how it was classified for distribution. He will ascertain 
whether the party or parties seeking to sell the parties to whom 
the land was allotted, and will give his opinion as to whether 
the instrument should be approved, with his reasons for such 
opinion. 

LEASES. 

Section 4. No lease will be approved for a greater term of 
years than as follows : THREE years for grazing purposes, TEN 
years for agricultural purposes, and FIFTEEN years for mineral 
purposes. All leases must be in quadruplicate and be executed 
in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, one part to be filed 
in the office of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, one with the 
agent, Union Agency, one to be delivered to the lessee, and one 
•to the lessor. 

Section 5. All leases must accurately describe the lands, 
specify the rents or royalties and when the same are to be paid, 
and they must contain a provision to the effect that if the lessee 
shall fail to pay the rents or royalties or any part thereof when 
due, or shall fail to faithfully comply with the terms and condi- 



244 Indian Territory 



tions of the lease, such failure shall constitute a forfeiture of the 
lease and all improvements placed on the land by the lessee, and 
that the lessor shall be entitled to immediate possession of the 
leased lands and the improvements located. 

All improvements placed on the lands by the lessee to an 
agricultural or grazing lease, or anyone holding under him as 
a sublessee, or otherwise, shall, at the expiration of the lease, be- 
and become the property of the owner of the land. 

This regulation is also applicable to all improvements and 
buildings placed upon lands leased for mineral purposes, except 
tools, boilers, boiler houses, pipe lines, pumping and drilling out- 
fits, tanks, engines, casings, of all dry or exhausted wells and 
machinery. 

All original leases, except of mineral lands as hereinafter 
provided, shall be required to furnish a bond executed by two or 
more sufficient sureties, each of whom must justify under oath 
to an amount equal to the entire rental, guaranteeing the pay- 
ment of all rents at the time and in the manner specified in the 
lease, and the performance of all covenants and agreements 
named in the indenture to be paid and performed by the lessee. 

Each mineral lease must be accompanied by an application, 
under oath by the lessee, upon blanks to be furnished by the 
agent. Each applicant will be required to state that the appli- 
cation is not made for speculation, but in good faith, and where 
the lease is for mining purposes, for mining the mineral or min- 
erals specified, including oil and natural gas. A map must ac- 
company each application, therein showing the amount of land 
of each legal subdivision supposed to be underlaid with mineral, 
oil, or natural gas, as the case may be, and if mineral other than 
oil or natural gas, the quantity that can probably be mined. 
Applicants must furnish such other information as may be de- 
sired by the agent regarding their prospective operations. Ap- 
plications by parties who do not themselves intend to conduct 
operations on the land will be rejected. Should the application 
be approved, bond will then be required as provided for here- 
inafter. 

In all mineral leases it must be provided that only so much 
of the surface of the land described as may be reasonably neces- 
sary to carry on the work contemplated may be occupied by the 
lessee. 

All original lessees of mineral lands shall'be required to fur- 
nish a bond, with two or more sufficient sureties, or a responsible 



Regulations 245 



surety company, guaranteeing the payment of all royalties and 
rents at the time and in the manner specified in the lease, and 
the performance of all covenant and agreements named in the 
lease to be paid and performed by the lessee. Such bond shall' 
in amount be as follows : For leases covering 40 acres and less 
than 80, $1,000; for those covering 80 acres and less than 120, 
$1,500; for those covering 120 and not more than 160, $2,000, 
and for each 40 acre tract or fractional part thereof, above 160 
acres, an additional amount of $500; but the right is specifically 
reserved to increase the amount of such bond above the sums 
named in any particular case where the Secretary of the Interior 
deems it proper to do so. 

No lease shall be sublet, transferred, or assigned without 
the consent and aproval of the Secretary of the Interior. 

All mineral leases shall provide for the payment of advanced 
annual royalty in sums of not less than 15 cents per acre per 
annum for the first and second years, 30 cents per acre per an- 
num for the third and fourth years, and 75 cents per acre per an- 
num for the fifth and each succeeding year thereafter, for the 
term for which the lease is to run the sums thus paid to be a 
credit on the stipulated royalties should the same exceed in any 
one year the amount of the advanced payment. 

All oil and gas leases shall provide for the payment of a 
royalty of 10 per cent, of the value on the leased premises of all 
crude oil extracted from said land, to be paid monthly, on or 
before the 25th day of the month succeeding that in which it is 
produced, and the average value of the oil during the month in 
which it is produced, shall constitute the criterion for computing 
the royalty. The royalty on natural gas shall be fixed by the 
Secretary of the Interior at the end of each year, or oftener in 
his discretion. 

All coal and asphalt leases shall provide for the payment of 
royalties as follows, to-wit : On asphaltum, the sum of 10 cents 
per ton each and every ton of crude asphalt produced weighing 
2,000 pounds, or the sum of 60 cents per ton on refined asphalt ; 
on the production of all coal mined, the sum of 8 cents per ton 
of 2,000 pounds on mine-run, or coal as it is taken from the 
mines, including what is commonly called "slack." All such roy- 
alties shall be paid monthly, as herein before provided for oil and 
gas. 

All mineral lessees must agree to allow the lessor and his 
agents from time to time to enter upon and into all parts of the 



246 Indian Territory 



leased premises for purposes of inspection, and agree to keep a 
full and correct account of all their operations and make report 
thereof, under oath, promptly after the end of each month, to the 
lessor, and to the Secretary of the Interior, through such officer 
as he may designate, and their books shall be open at all times to 
the examination of such officers of the Department as shall be in- 
structed in writing by the Secretary of the Interior to make such 
examination. 

The agent, before transmitting a lease, will ascertain whether 
the lessor or lessors are in fact the parties to whom the land was 
allotted. 

Section 6. No person or corporation will be allowed to 
lease, within the territory occupied by the Creek and Cherokee 
Nations, for purpose of mining for oil and gas, more than 4,800 
acres of land in the aggregate. 

Any oil and gas leases presented to the Department must be 
accompanied by an application by the lessee, for approval of such 
lease or leases, in the form of an affidavit, showing that the lessee 
is not directly or indirectly interested in any oil and gas leases 
or applications for such leases, within the territory occupied by 
said nations, the lands embraced in which, with the tracts cov- 
ered by .the lease or leases presented for approval, would make 
more than 4,800 acres. 

Applications to have leases approved must follow a form 
furnished by the Secretary of the Interior. 

DEEDS AND LEASES. 

No lease or deed will be approved that is executed prior to 
the approval and delivery of the deed to the allotee. Annexed to 
these regulations are forms of petition, deed, certificate of officer 
taking acknowledgment, affidavit of witnesses, grantor's affida- 
vit, grantee's affidavit, certificate of officer who appraised the 
land, lease, bond, and affidavit of surety, which forms must be 
followed in all cases. All deeds and leases will be transmitted 
by the Indian agent, or other officer in charge, through the proper 
channels, for the Secretary's approval. 

Section 8. The postoffice address of each party in interest 
must be given in the instrument which it is sought to have ap- 
proved, and the postoffice address of each subscribing witness 
must appear on the papers. 

Section 9. A lease or conveyance of undivided inherited 



Regulations 247 



lands, or undivided allotments made directly to the heirs join in 
the lease, deed, or instrument of conveyance. 

Section 10. If inherited lands, or lands allotted directly to 
heirs of a deceased citizen, have been partitioned, evidence there- 
of must accompany a deed or instument of conveyance of such 
lands. 

Section II. In cases where the lands embraced in a lease, 
deed or instrument of conveyance were inherited from one who 
died after the allotment was made to him, such lease, deed or in- 
strument of conveyance must be accompanied by a certificate 
signed by two officials of the town or band of which such allot- 
tee was a member, or by two or more reliable members of the 
tribe setting forth that the allottee to whom the land was orig- 
inally allotted is dead, giving as nearly as possible the date of 
death. Such certificate shall also show the names and ages of 
the heirs, adults, and minors of such deceased allotee, but the 
department reserves the right to require, if in its judgment it shall 
be considered necessary, such further additional evidence relative 
to the heirship as may be deemed proper. If the persons who cer- 
tify to the death of the allottee are, from their own knowledge, 
unable to certify as to who are the heirs (with their names and 
ages) of such deceased allotte, an additional certificate made by 
persons of one of the two classes herein specified, showing who 
are the heirs and giving their names and ages (adults and minors) 
must be furnished. And one of the certificated above mentioned, 
or an additional certificate made as above specified, must set 
forth definitely whether or not any children were born to such 
deceased alottee after May 25, 1901, and whether or not such de- 
ceased allottee disposed of his homestead or any portion of his 
allotment by will. 

Section 12. In cases where the lands embraced in a lease, 
deed or instrument of conveyance were allotted directly to the 
heirs of a citizen who died before receiving an allotment, such 
lease, deed or instrument of conveyance must be accompanied 
by a certificate signed by two officials of the town or band of 
which such citizen was a member, or by two or more reliable 
members of the tribe, setting forth the names and ages of the 
heirs, adults and minors, of such deceased citizen, the Depart- 
ment reserving the right to require additional evidence as pro- 
vided in section eleven hereof. 

Section 13. If there shall have been, or shall hereafter be, 
probate or other court proceedings, establishing who are the 



248 Indian Territory 

heirs of such deceased allottee or such deceased citizen, a certi- 
fied copy of the final order, judgment or decree of the court 
showing and determining such heirship must be furnished ; but 
where such court proceedings have not been had a compliance 
with the requirements of the provisions of sections eleven and 
twelve hereof, as the case may be, will be deemed sufficient to 
establish the heirship. 

Section 14. In cases of transfers, leases, and sales to which 
minors are parties grantor, the transfer, lease, or sale must be 
made by a guardian, and the lease, deed, or instrument of convey- 
ance must be accompanied by certified copies of the order of the 
proper court appointing the guardian and authorizing him to 
make such transfer, lease, or sale, and it must be fully under- 
stood that the Department reserves the right to use any means 
at its disposal for the purpose of ascertaining whether the con- 
sideration given is the fair value of the land, and whether the pro- 
posed lease or sale is for the best interest of the Indian. 

Section 15. Leases for minerals, other than coal, asphalt, 
oil, and gas, must be made on the form attached hereto, page 42. 

W. A. JONES, Commissioner. 

Department of the Interior. Approved July 10, 1903. 
THOMAS RYAN, Acting Secretary. 

AMENDMENTS. 

To the Regulations of May 4, 1903, Governing the Leasing of 
Lands in the Cherokee Nation, and the Regulations of July 
10, 1903, Governing the Sale and Leasing of Lands in the 
Creek Nation. 

Hereafter no rents, royalties, or payments accruing under 
any lease which has been approved by the Secretary of the In- 
terior, or which requires his approval, shall be paid direct to the 
lessor, but all payments to be made under any lease shall, at the 
times and in the amounts specified in such instrument, be depos- 
ited with the United States Indian Agent at Union Agency, or 
with some such other person as may be designated by the Sec- 
retary of the Interior to receive the same, to be turned over to the 
lessor or his representatives. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

Washington, D. C, October 1, 1903. 
Approved : THOMAS RYAN, Acting Secretary. 



Regulations 249 



AMENDMENTS. 

To Regulations of July 10, 1903, Governing the Sale and Leasing 
of Lands in the Creek Nation. 

Subdivisions 4 and 5, regulations July 10, 1903, are amend- 
ed as follows : 

(4). Sealed bids will be received by such agent, or other 
officer in charge at his office, for any land so listed up to 2 o'clock 
p. m. of the day on which bids are advertised to be opened, at 
which hour they will be opened. If a bidder desires to bid on 
tracts not contiguous he must submit a speparate bid for each 
tract, and if he desires to purchase less than an entire tract 
offered he may submit a bid for one or more legal subdivisions 
thereof. 

(5). All such bids, before being deposited with the Indian 
agent or other officer in charge, shall be included in a sealed en- 
velope upon which must be written, "Bid for Creek land," and the 
date the bid will be opened must be endorsed on the envelope. 
The envelope must not contain a description of the land. Neither 
the Indian agent, nor any official connected with the Indian 
Service, will be permitted to prepare any bid or assist any pros- 
pective bidder, in preparing his bid. Bids shall be numbered 
by such Indian agent, or other officer in charge, in the order in 
which the same shall be received by him, and a memorandum 
record of each, containing number of bid and description of land, 
shall be kept in a book suitable for that purpose. Each bid must 
be accompanied by a duly certified check on some solvent bank, 
payable to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for the use of the 
grantors, for twenty per cent, of the amount offered, as a guar- 
antee for the faithful performance by the bidder of his proposi- 
tion. If the bid shall be accepted and the successful bidder shall, 
within a reasonable time, not exceeding ten days, after due notice, 
fail to comply with the terms of his bid, such check shall be for- 
feited to the use of the owner of the land. 

W. A. JONES, 
Commissioner of Indian Affairs. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 

Washington ,D. C, November 3, 1903. 
Approved : THOMAS RYAN, Acting Secretary. 



250 



Index to Subjects 



Index to Subjects, 



History — Chapter 1 28 

Resources — Chapter II 43 

The People — Chapter III 54 

Government — Chapter IV 67 

Indian Government — Chapter V 80 

Schools — Churches — Chapter VI 91 

Indian Religion — Chapter VII 103 

Social Laws and Customs — Chapter VIII 109 

Taxes — Chapter IX 117 

Trade and Wealth — Chapter X 119 

Industries — Chapter XI 127 

Future — Chapter XII 137 

Towns — Chapter XIII 148 

Commission to Five Civilized Tribes — Chapter XIV 150 

Treaties and United States Laws Pertaining to the Five Civilized 

Tribes — Chapter XV 152 

Application of Treaties and Laws to each Nation — Chapter XVI 218 

Regulations and Amendments— Chapter XVII 239 




007 751127 1 




